


I'm gonna go with it cause it feels ok

by sssssssim



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 2 of them actually, :), M/M, Magic, Magic!Stiles, Original Male Character - Freeform, Runes, Slow Build, Vampires, but not really, ish, the runes are pretty freeform and completely WRONG than any lore ever, they're friends before anything else, vampire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-14
Updated: 2013-03-23
Packaged: 2017-12-05 07:53:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 34,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/720643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/pseuds/sssssssim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the pack dealt with the Alpha pack terrorizing Beacon Hills, Stiles really hoped they’d catch a break. They didn’t.<br/>Vampire. There’s a vampire in Beacon Hills. And he’s teaching English at Beacon Hills High.<br/>[Let’s just ignore how Jackson and Erica won’t be there anymore, shall we? They’re all part of a pack. ALL of them, even Danny. And pack life suits them:)]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How the hell did I end up like this?

**Author's Note:**

> °Even though this is written in the third person, this is Stiles’ point of view (most of the time, I might have slipped a few times, for reasons!). I tried to write it as if Stiles is narrating it. Does that make sense? Well, it will when you’ll see the babbling :)°  
> I swear this has a plot! I also had some fun with it. The vampires aren't that bad, not really. One could actually like them! And the runes are magic are... I don't think I followed any lore ever, so it's a bit bonkers.  
> Hope you'll enjoy! Feel free to feedback! :)

The only thing Stiles was thinking at this point was ‘How the Hell did I end up like this?’.

He was in the woods, surrounded by werewolves. Not just his werewolf friends, no, but also by a pack of Alpha werewolves.  Everybody was fighting, growling and tearing up clothes, there was blood everywhere. Stiles couldn’t figure out who was winning, if any of his friends were injured or dead, he couldn’t see or hear anything. Except what was right in front of him. And, point in case, under him.

Stiles was on top of Derek, straddling his hips. Which, yeah, would have been incredibly awkward, if one of the alphas hadn’t injured Derek so badly that he couldn’t get up and if he didn’t actually need Stiles to apply pressure to the wounds on his abdomen and chest.

Derek told him to run. Stiles didn’t listen. Derek begged him to leave. Stiles looked up and saw one of the Alphas running straight towards them.

‘How the Hell did I end up here?’

₪

A lot of important things changed in Stiles’ life, the night when Jackson became a werewolf. Firstly, he took the first step into getting over Lydia. Which he did, about one month later. Secondly, he decided he will tell his Dad about werewolves and everything that happened. Which he did, with Scott and Derek’s  help, two months later. Thirdly, he realized he needed to convince Scott to join Derek’s pack. Which he managed to do, eventually.

Things were calm after that. For about three days, till Erica and Boyd came back, bruised and battered and with little information of the Alpha pack. Derek was on high alert after that, always giving Stiles updates on the situation, thus making sure Scott knew what was happening.

They all went back to school, of course they did. They spent lunches together. Stiles and Scott, Erica and Boyd and Isaac. Alison was ignoring them all, and they were ignoring her. None of them could forgive her for what she did, and she couldn’t forgive Derek. After Jackson and Lydia had a long conversation with Derek and after asking Stiles a series of specific questions, they started sitting at their lunch table as well. A few days later, Danny joined them. Stiles wouldn’t have figured out that Jackson told him, if they didn’t have to do another Chemistry project together. In the middle of a pizza break, Danny asked if Derek could turn into an actual wolf if he wanted. And that was one good question, because Stiles didn’t know the answer to it.

Derek treated all of them as if they were pack, even when Scott was saying ‘no’, and even if Stiles, Lydia and Danny were human. They trained together, they hung out together, they all had to bear Peter’s sneaky comments, they all were afraid because the Alpha pack had not made a move ever since they arrived in town.

After the ‘coming out’ conversation with the Sheriff, Scott apologized to Derek and acknowledged him as his Alpha. That night, Stiles received several texts from Derek, who was thanking him for convincing Scott.

 **Stiles:** Stop thanking me, he was being stubborn and stupid. This was probably the best decision of his life. … I may be exaggerating.

**Derek:** _You are exaggerating. But my pack is lucky to have you both._

By the end of the school year, Stiles was feeling better than he has in years. He was in Derek’s pack, he got along well with everyone, his father knew everything. They all trained in the woods, Derek bought a huge apartment which held weekly movie nights. Alison was still ignoring everyone, but the wolves didn’t have hunters on their tails every full moon.

Close to the end of the summer, the Alphas started attacking. They only targeted the wolves, always catching them alone, hurting them, never killing them. After two weeks of mental torture and physical pain, all the wolves were on edge. And Stiles was terrified.

He was at the supermarket, buying random things he ran out of and stacking up on chocolate. His phone rang, a text from Derek.

**Derek:** _I saw your Jeep in the parking lot. Pack meeting in 30m, don’t be late._

**Stiles:** Stop spying on me! I’ll be there.

After putting his cell back in his pocket, he turned around to see a young guy, around his age, staring him down. The dude was wearing a leather jacket over a white t-shirt, his dark hair was spiked up in the front and he was smiling in a really condescending way.

‘Can I… help you?’

His eyes flashed red as he handed Stiles an envelope. ‘For Hale.’ He was gone before Stiles got to blink.

The letter set a time and place for the ‘final battle’. Pack Hale vs. Pack Alpha. If Stiles wasn’t so scared, he might have commented on the general inclination every Alpha has towards acting like a comic book villain. But he didn’t. The fight was in 3 days and it was clear to everyone that this wasn’t something they could back out of.

Derek banned every human from the fight. Of course, Stiles didn’t listen. He got to the woods half an hour later than the wolves. But he was prepared; he had a baseball bat and a knife, both soaked in wolfsbane, a bag (small enough to fit in his pocket) with mountain ash and one with wolfsbane. And a lighter, just in case.

The first thing he heard when he got out of his Jeep was gunfire. This was very bad, why would there be guns at a werewolf fight? Stiles really hoped the Argents or some other hunters didn’t decide to show up.

When he got to the clearing, he couldn’t see anything for a few seconds, even though it was the middle of the day. Everybody was fighting, and it was all happening so fast. The Alphas had guns, clearly with wolfsbane bullets, and even though it was hard to use them without shooting their own, they still were firing. Before he got a chance to actually panic, the Alpha who handed him the letter was right in front of him. He wasn’t shifted, and he clearly didn’t think Stiles was a threat. He was laughing, so the baseball bat that collided with his head caught him by surprise. The wolfsbane gave Stiles more time to properly bash his head into the ground. Three hits later, the wolf was dead.

Stiles felt an adrenaline rush like never before. He just killed a man, ok, he was a werewolf, and an evil one, but the fact still stand. He just killed someone. But he didn’t have time to think about it now. He got up and looked around. Derek was on the ground, crouching over his stomach, 20 feet from him.

When he got to him and saw how badly injured he was, his instinct kicked in, so he kept Derek’s legs still and put pressure on the claw wounds on his stomach. There was a bullet hole in the wolf’s shoulder, and Stiles had a flashback.

‘Go. Run. Go. Please, Stiles, just go.’

‘Shut up and heal!’

Stiles looked around, trying to find a gun so he could heal Derek’s gunshot wound. He looked in front of them and saw a fully shifted Alpha running towards them. He didn’t have enough time to do anything else, so he grabbed his knife. When the wolf jumped, Stiles leaned back just enough to stab him in the neck. He turned around and saw Boyd pinning the Alpha down. But he couldn’t let the beta kill him, one grumpy Alpha is enough for this pack, thank you very much! So he got up and bashed his head with his bat. That was two. In a day. Shit.

He looked around and realized that the fighting stopped. All the Alphas were dead. All his pack was still alive.

‘Oh thank God. Ok. Ok. Are you good? Well, no, obviously you’re not good, the wounds heal slower but is anyone of you shot?’

‘Oh my god, Derek!’, Erica shouted.

‘I’ll take that as a no. Ok, I need a gun. Someone get me a gun. And someone come here and put pressure on the claw wounds.’

In a few seconds, Stiles was crouching down near Derek, ripping off the remains of his shirt so he could get better access to his wound. Isaac had a t-shirt pressed to the Alpha’s stomach and there were three different guns in Stiles’ lap.

He took out a bullet and handed it to Scott. ‘You know the drill, quick!’

Stiles got out his lighter and his ID card from his sock. Scott gave him the bullet’s head and he burned the wolfsbane on his ID, because of course he couldn’t set the thing on fire on the ground, in the woods. He couldn’t think about Erica’s cries or the terrified look on Jackson’s face.

‘Boyd, Jackson, I need you to keep him still now.’ He put his free hand on Derek’s cheek, making the wolf open his eyes and look at him. ‘Derek, I know this will hurt, but you know I have to do it. Ok?’

‘Do it.’

Derek screamed and shifted half-way through, as Stiles shoved the wolfsbane into the wound. Then, he passed out.

₪

After he made sure all the pack was well and healing, after burning the bodies and getting Derek into his bed, Stiles went home and slept for 15 hours straight.

When he woke up, Derek was sitting on the floor, leaning his back on the bed, reading ‘The History of Lycanthropy’. Stiles thought that it was kind of sad that he knew that book just by the color of the covers. Also, he realized he wasn’t even startled when waking up with Derek in his room. Not anymore.

‘Dude, you’re such a creeper.’

‘This book is surprisingly accurate.’

‘Yeah. Too bad the author’s dead, I would’ve liked to talk to him.’ Stiles stood up. ‘Mother of god, I am so hungry.’

He made his way to the kitchen downstairs and made coffee. He was craving pancakes, for some reason. So he checked for syrup or Nutella or something. Yay, they had strawberry jam AND Nutella. When he turned around, he realized Derek wasn’t there.

‘Uhm, Derek? You … wanna come down here, buddy?’

When the wolf appeared in the doorway, Stiles was awake enough to notice that Derek didn’t have his shoes on, and that he had striped socks. He was wearing a pair of black sweat pants and a Beatles t-shirt. He was still holding the book.

‘Stiles, you’re staring.’

‘Sorry. I’m… sleepy. And you’re wearing a Beatles t-shirt.’

The wolf narrowed his eyes. ‘Is that a problem?’

‘Quite the opposite. I just didn’t know you… listened to music. Anyway. Uhm. Coffee and pancakes?’

‘Sure’, Derek smiled as he sat down at the table, and continued reading.

They didn’t talk while Stiles cooked. He was grateful for that, but that did not mean he could stand the silence. So he turned on the old stereo they had in the kitchen, knowing that his cooking cd was still inside. Yes, he had a playlist he liked to listen to when he cooked, it helped with filling the silence and it gave him energy. So, Stiles made pancakes and sang and danced to Arctic Monkeys. ‘I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor’ was his favorite, so he maybe put on a show for Derek, singing as loud as he could and shaking his ass while he flipped pancakes. When he turned around, the wolf was staring, his eyes wide. Stiles grinned like an idiot. Derek rolled his eyes and started laughing.

As they ate, the boy could see that Derek was concerned. He did the thing he always did when he was thinking or searching for words, he clenched his jaw. It was obvious that they needed to talk, but Sties was, for the first time in years, comfortable with the silence.

When they finished eating, Stiles sighed dramatically and frowned at Derek. ‘Let’s go in the living room, I have a feeling the conversation we’re about to have will end with me wanting to curl into a ball and die, so the couch is a good decision’.

The boy sat down on the far edge of the couch, back to the armrest. He brought his knees to his chest and buried his chin into them. Derek sat down on the other end of the couch, lifting his feet on the coffee table. But he wasn’t talking. And Stiles knew that this was going to be one of those heart shredding discussions, he knew Derek was mad because he didn’t listen to him, because he put himself in harm’s way and because he killed. He also knew he couldn’t really argue with that. But Derek still wasn’t talking, he was just staring at the ceiling and drawing circles on the couch with his fingers.

‘Derek? Go on with it.’

‘Go on with what?’

‘With whatever it is you feel the need to say. You’re clearly here for a reason, probably to scream at me for how stupid and careless I am. So, come on, the faster you start, the quicker it will be over.’

Derek nodded and turned his head to look at Stiles. ‘You are stupid and careless. You could’ve died. Again. You were the only human in a werewolf fight, half of them Alphas. And…’ The wolf’s eyes skimmed Stiles’ body, and his expression changed from angry to soft and tired. ‘And you killed two Alphas and saved my life. Again.’

‘I really wish you’d stop almost dying for like, half a second.’

Derek wiggled his toes and sighed.

‘I really wish you’d listen to me, every once in a while.’

Stiles smirked. ‘I do listen. I listen all the time, I am a great listener. I just… don’t obey all the time. There’s a difference.’

‘So… that’s what? Five, six times I have to thank you for saving my life? What’s the number at?’ Derek seemed almost annoyed.

Stiles smiled, he stretched his feet until they were touching Derek’s side. ‘Zero. Let’s make it zero. Forever. I cant’t be bothered with counting how many times you or any of the pack saves my life. So. Zero. Always. You know that I’m thankful, and I know you’re thankful I just… I’m tired of it, so, zero.’

Derek nodded slowly and let out a long breath. ‘I’m sorry, Stiles.’                                            

‘What for?’

‘For not pushing you away from all of this.’

The boy laughed. ‘Yeah, like you could’ve. And, let’s be honest, you have tried in the past. But no, Derek, don’t. I… wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re my friends.’

‘You killed two people.’

Stiles crooked his nose and puffed. ‘No, I killed two evil werewolves, and yeah, maybe I won’t ever forget their faces, but it was either us or them. I can’t regret that. It’s not survival of the fittest, it’s survival of who’s worthy. And the bitches had it coming. They deserved it and you know it. Plus,’ Stiles pushed his feet under Derek’s outer thigh. ‘You killed three Alphas yesterday. And you were right to do so. ’

Derek ran his hand through his hair and let his head fall back on the couch. ‘You’re 18. You shouldn’t have to think like this.’

‘Neither should you. It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it. I’m not saying I’m not secretly wishing for Iron Man to just stop by for a while, but until that happens, we have to do whatever we can to keep this damn city in order.’

Derek raised an eyebrow. ‘How are you so calm? Now, and then, in the woods. You heart was beating like crazy, yeah, but you were on top of things, giving orders and dodging bullets.’

Stiles closed his eyes. ‘Things change, Sourwolf. Maybe I’m more mature now.’

‘No. You’re wearing Sponge Bob pajamas. And… you’ve always been like that, if I think about it.’

The boy frowned. ‘They’re comfy AND fun, don’t judge.’

‘Stiles…’

‘I’m fine, Derek. I really am. Stop thinking about it.’

The wolf narrowed his eyes and put a reassuring hand on the boy’s ankles. ‘You’re not fine.’

Stiles looked up, straight into the wolf’s eyes. ‘No, I’m not fine. But I’ll never be fine. Neither will you.’

Derek frowned in confusion.

‘Scott tells me I still smell like my mom sometimes. And that’s impossible, I know that, but he doesn’t question it. I don’t either… And I know it has nothing to do with what we were talking about. But it kinda does?’ Stiles frowned. ‘I already know how to deal with death. And so do you. Yeah, we’re never gonna be fine, but we have to be ok. And we will be, because our breakfast club is tough as Hell.’

‘Did you just call my pack a breakfast club?’, the wolf pouted and Stiles bit his lips to hold back a laugh.

‘Yes, obviously.’

‘So, judging by the fact that you went from heart breaking topics to pop culture references in 3 seconds, I have to assume that you’re ok.’

Stiles couldn’t help smile at that, because this is what he liked the most about Derek. Even if he didn’t talk much, when he did, he didn’t beat around the bush. Every time Stiles would mention his mother, he’d also change the subject instantly, and nobody would say anything. Except Derek. It should annoy him, but it only made him respect the Alpha more.

‘I’m great. And glad everybody else is safe.’

‘Can I ask you something?’

‘Yeah, dude, that’s how conversations usually work.’

‘Why in god’s name would you bring your ID to a fight?’

‘Excuse you, mind the condescending tone, it was a great idea that kinda helped saving your life.’

‘Yeah, ok, but that’s not why you did it.’

‘No… I… I know how frustrating a John Doe mutilated dead body could be.’

Derek startled. Stiles smiled. ‘I can’t really wear dog tags, can I? Even thought that would be funny, considering you lot.’

Derek looked straight into his eyes. ‘You’re insane.’

‘It’s a smart thing to do.’

‘Completely insane.’

‘It’s sad you’re just figuring this out now.’ Derek shrugged and straightened up a bit, clearly moving past the subject.

‘Go shower and get dressed.’

‘Where are we going?’

The wolf growled a bit. ‘To buy cupcakes and sodas, then at my place to watch, and I quote, the stupidest movies we can get our hands on.’

‘You don’t seem too pleased to have a pack bonding session.’

‘I really don’t like stupid comedies.’

‘That doesn’t surprise me at all. What type of movies do you like, though?’

Derek raised an eyebrow. Stiles rolled his eyes.

‘Dude, I’ve known you for how long now? And I have no idea what kind of movies you like. It’s a travesty and a proper insult to my personality!’

The wolf laughed.

‘Tell me. Derek, stop laughing. Come on, if you don’t tell me, god, stop laughing, if you don’t tell me, I’ll assume the worst.’ At this point, Stiles was laughing too, because, apparently, laughing is contagious. ‘You like snuff movies and every once in a while you indulge yourself with cheesy romcoms!’

‘Oh my god, noooooo’.  Derek took in a deep breath, holding down his laughter. ‘I don’t really like _movies_ , as you call them. I like films. Any genre, it doesn’t matter, as long as they’re artistic.’

Stiles narrowed his eyes. ‘What does that even mean?’

Derek stood up and made his way to the bookshelf, where Stiles’ DVD collection. ‘Let’s see. I liked Trainspotting for the cinematography, Harry Potter for the scenery and effects, A Space Odyssey for everything that was visually appealing and for the story, if I’m being honest. Hm…’ As he continued to read the titles of DVDs, he brushed his fingers over them, tapping lightly every time he found one he liked. If he didn’t know better, Stiles would’ve thought he was in some kind of a trance. ‘Lord of the Rings had great scenery and make up, any of these Tim Burton movies has great everything, oh wow, I haven’t seen V for Vendetta in a while, need to rewatch that.’

Five minutes later, Stiles fake coughed, just to get Derek back to reality. The wolf startled and turned around, throwing the boy a judgmental look. ‘You have some pretty decent movies, I can see you have potential, but I swear to god I have never ever seen a bigger collection of shit action movies in my life.’

Stiles rolled his eyes and threw a pillow at Derek. ‘I’ll go shower. You can continue to cultivate me in the art of cinematography after.’


	2. What do you want?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles meets a vampire. Twice. He's kinda hot and really scary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't picturing Alex as Alexander Vlahos in glasses, nope, no, clearly not.

It was 6:30 am, the first day of the new school year, and Stiles was in his favorite coffee shop, at his favorite table, near the window, reading some random old bestiary he got from Deaton, enjoying his latte. This became a ritual since he started highschool, he’d always stay up the night before the first day, not really doing anything important. Tonight, he watched a couple of movies (all Aronofsky, because Derek wouldn’t shut up about how amazing he was), played some video games and read some of the bestiary in the bath. Yes, he took a long bath and even though it was incredibly emasculating, it also was very calming and, truth be told, Stiles was still supporting some bruises from the events of the summer. Or, you know, the events of the time he trained with his pack all day, yesterday.

Stiles was startled when a man sat on the chair opposite of him. The guy looked about 25, and he had dark curly hair. His eyes were light blue and he was wearing glasses, those kind of black, thick framed, hipster glasses. This, combined with the white/pink striped shirt, sleeves raised to his elbows, made him look like a cute librarian.

‘Can I help you?’, Stiles asked with a complementary rise of his eyebrows.

‘What are you?’

‘Excuse me?’ Who the hell asks something like that, the boy thought. And the guy almost seemed… excited.

‘You’re human, but you smell like a werewolf. Not one, more than one. But you’re human? What are you?’

This was bad. Stiles’ heart was beating incredibly fast now and he clenched his right fist, in order to maintain a calm appearance. It’s not like they could _do_ anything, they were in a public space, a thankfully, very crowded coffee shop. Ok, Stiles needed to say something, because he was silent for several seconds now, and the guy was leaning forward on the table and he was sniffing the air. ‘What do you want?’

The guy laughed. ‘Oh, dear boy. Come on, in our line of work, that’s not the question you start with. You ask _what ARE you?_.’

‘Who are you?’

‘Uhh, stubborn I see.’ The dude smiled and those were not normal teeth, those were fangs. But they were different than the ones Stiles was used to, they were longer and thinner. And his eyes were completely black, not just the pupils, they were ALL black. Shit. Before anyone else could see him, the fangs were gone and his eyes were blue again.

‘So tell me boy, what am I?’

Because Stiles is Stiles and there are certain things he is known for, he did realize he should just stand up and run to his jeep. But, because Stiles is Stiles, he continued talking in his normal condescending tone.

‘At this point, my mind is either going to a demon, or a vampire, maybe an incubus.’

The guy rolled his eyes. ‘Where the hell have you heard of vampires with black eyes?’

‘Being Human. It’s a British tv show, but us Americans did a version of it anyway. They’re both good, to be honest.’

‘Huh. I need to look into that. You’re right, though. I’m not a demon. And you blood smells delicious.’ The guy was staring at Stiles’ neck and he had a mad smile on his face.

‘It’s probably the meds. What do you want from us?’

The vampire raised one eyebrow. ‘Nothing, I’m new in town so I thought I’d have some small talk with the locals.’

‘What are you doing in Beacon Hills?’

‘Nothing. Really. Nothing. Forget about me.’ He stood up and brushed two fingers along Stiles’ arm. ‘Just ignore me.’

The guy was a bit cold, but not freezing as expected. As he walked away, Stiles’ couldn’t help but stare at his ass, because seriously, did all supernatural beings have to have such great bodies?

₪

Stiles got to school, but didn’t say anything to anyone, at first. During his first period, he stood at the back of the class and read the entry on vampires from the bestiary he had on him. It wasn’t much, but it did confirm that coffee shop guy was, in fact, a vampire. But it didn’t say anything about defense or offence techniques. He got out his phone, and texted Derek, even though it was ass o’clock in the morning.

 **Stiles:** We need to have a meeting today, after school. It’s important.

**Derek:** _We haven’t seen each other in less than 10h. You’ve been in school for 2 seconds. What the fuck could have happened?_

**Stiles:** I don’t care you woke up on the wrong side of the bed, it’s important!

**Derek:** _What happened?_

**Stiles:** I can’t text about it. Meeting after school?

When Derek didn’t answer for a few minutes, Stiles gave in and texted him a ‘please’. He got 2 texts at 10 seconds apart.

**Derek:** _Pack meeting, my place, after school. It’s important, don’t ask why, just be there._

**Derek:** _Are you ok?_

**Stiles:** Yes, I’m ok. Thank you. See you soon, school now.

₪

Stiles managed to get through the rest of the school day in a pretty normal manner. The pack wondered why they were summoned to Derek’s, but he didn’t say anything and they just let it pass.

Coach cornered him right before his last period, making sure he was still playing this year and assuring him he won’t be standing on the bench anymore. Which, ok, was a very weird happening, but Stiles was happy to hear it.

That, of course, meant he was late for English. He rushed to his class and stopped in the doorway. The vampire was standing right in front of him. And he was smiling.

‘You’re late.’

‘I’m… sorry?’

‘I’m sure you are. So, as I was saying, class, I am Alex and I’m your new English teacher. Please call me Alex, I’m really not that old and I’m a nice guy.’ He turned to Stiles. ‘I do have some rules, though. Like, for example, if you’re late to my class, I won’t let you in easily.’

At this point, Stiles’ heart was close to exploding and he could see the confused look on Erica and Boyd’s faces. Why did he share this class just with them, why wasn’t every werewolf here?

‘If you are late, as you are now, I’ll tell you a quote. From a book, a play, a poem, something. If you guess where it’s from, or who said it, you get to come in. If you don’t, you leave straight to the Principal’s office. And even if you do guess it right, I hold the right to pick on you for the whole class. Understood?’

Stiles nodded, he could feel himself getting angry now, but he had to keep appearances, even though all he wanted was to stab Alex right through his heart.

‘So… Let’s see….’ The older man narrowed his eyes and ran a finger over his lips.

‘ _Every moment must be first known and then savored_.’

Stiles had to give him some credit. Not any normal student could know where that was from. But Stiles loved that book long before Scott got bit. Plus, it was a declaration of sorts, and he had to laugh at that.

‘Anne Rice, Interview With a Vampire. _We’re beautiful like the diamond-backed snake, or the striped tiger, yet we’re merciless killers._ ’

‘Very good, I’m really impressed. You may sit down.’

Stiles rushed to the seat next to Erica, and as soon as he sat down, she took his hand in an effort to calm him down. But he couldn’t tell her what was wrong, because Alex was by his table.

‘What’s your name?’

‘Stilinski.’

‘I assume that’s your last name?’ Stiles nodded. ‘Look, kids, I can’t be bothered with last names. They’re usually more complicated to remember and it takes away even the last dose of a connection we could have. So, if you’re going to call me just Alex, I sure as hell won’t call you by your last name. So…?’

Stiles wasn’t looking at the guy, he was staring at the clock. Erica was still holding his hand, and his heart was still doing a samba.

‘Stiles.’

‘You’re name is Stiles Stilinski? Seriously?’

The whole class giggled, but it was Danny who explained. ‘Nobody can actually pronounce his name. We stopped trying 6 years ago. Everybody calls him Stiles.’

‘Ah. I see that we have a bit of a ‘boy with no name’ complex over here. Interesting.’ He walked to the teacher’s desk and sat on it. ‘A person’s name is his more important feature. It’s not just a means of addressing another human, it’s what defines you. For example, Alexander is derived from the Greek word meaning _protector of men_ , and what am I doing, if not protecting you from the dangers of bad novels? So, this being said, we’re going to play a game. I’ll call each of you out, by only your first name, as we’ve already established, and then I’m going to designate a few people to tell me one word they think defines you. Hopefully, I’ll get to know you better. Stiles, of course we’ll start with you.', Alex giggled.

He pointed a finger at Greenberg. The boy raised an eyebrow and said ‘ADD’.

‘Ok, firstly, that was incredibly rude. Secondly, I fail to see how a medical condition can define a person. Explain.’

‘He never stands still and he talks way too much. He’s uncoordinated and a spazz, and it’s because of his ADD.’

The teacher narrowed his eyes. ‘I assume you don’t like him very much.’

‘It’s not that, it’s just that most of the time he’s in our way at practices.’

Stiles heard Boyd growl a bit behind him, and Erica tightened her hold on his hand. This was mental torture AND public embarrassment, Stiles couldn’t take it anymore. He let his head fall on the table. It made a sound, but everybody ignored it.

‘Practices?’

‘Lacrosse.’

‘Oh. And still, you weren’t able to choose a word that isn’t hurtful.’

Greenberg looked at Stiles, a flash of embarrassment on his face. Stiles just waved his hand in a dismissing manner. He couldn’t care less what Greenberg thought of him.

‘Uhm, fast. He can run fast.’

Alex laughed. ‘That’s a good skill. Ok, next.’

He pointed at Danny. The boy thought for a bit and with a smirk on his face, said ‘Resourceful’.

‘Is it a kinky thing?’, Alex winked.

Danny blushed. ‘No, oh, nooooo, god no. I meant to say that he’s a walking, talking Wikipedia’.

‘Also, a good skill. What about you?’, he pointed towards Boyd.

‘Stupidfunny.’

‘That’s not a word.’

‘But it’s the best word to describe Stiles.’

‘How come?’

‘He makes jokes so stupid, it’s impossible not to laugh at them.’

The teacher nodded and pointed to Erica. ‘Last one.’

The girl rubbed her thumb over Stiles’ wrist and said ‘Loyal’.

Alex rolled his eyes. ‘Yeah, ok, that’s very sweet, but your little teenage love story really isn’t any of my concern.’

Before any of them could say anything, Alex moved on to the next student.

They played this game till the bell rang. Stiles had to say a word for almost everyone in the class, even though he hardly knew most of them. He did say that Danny was lovable, Boyd was strong and Erica was a superhero.

At the end of the class, Alex told him to stay back for a bit, because they needed to talk. Stiles whispered to Erica and Boyd to wait for him outside the classroom.

He cautiously approached the teacher’s desk, where Alex was sitting in his chair, smiling.

‘Do you really have ADD?’

‘What?’

‘How does it manifest? I mean, how does it influence your school work? Are you slower, do I need to leave you more time at a test or give you easier tasks? Nobody told me anything.’

Stiles frowned. ‘No, it doesn’t influence my school work in any way.’

‘The pills help with that?’

‘Yes.’

‘Ok, Stiles, I understand. If there are any problems, though, let me know. See you next week and don’t be late.’

Stiles was in shock. Before he could think better of it, he almost screamed. ‘What the hell do you want here?’

Alex smiled. ‘I told you, nothing. Well, at this point, I do want to teach you some English. Even though I’m not convinced you’ll need it.’

Stiles left without saying anything more.

Erica and Boyd were waiting outside. ‘What the hell is wrong?’, the blonde grabbed his cheeks and looked him in the eye.

‘I… I’m fine. Derek’s. Now. Meet you there.’

₪

Even though he drove fast, Stiles was the last one to get to Derek’s flat, mostly because he took the longest route he could think of. The drive did calm him down, but just a bit.

He rushed into the apartment, and went straight to the kitchen, ignoring what any of his pack said. It was difficult, considering Derek had an open space type of kitchen, so he could still hear them as he opened the fridge. And everybody saw him open up a beer and drink it all in one go.

The Alpha took the empty bottle from his hands and put it on the counter. Stiles could tell that he was mad, but he knew he was concerned, because he put both his hands on his upper arms.

‘What happened?’

‘Vampire.’

Derek crooked his eyebrows. ‘What?’

‘This morning, a vampire told me my blood smells delicious. And then, he picked at me at school because, guess what? He’s my fucking English teacher.’

Everybody was silent for a while, and Stiles took this time to calm down some more. Derek’s hands were still holding him up, even though the boy didn’t think he was going to fall. But he wasn’t going to complain, because werewolves were warm and Stiles liked that.

Erica broke the silence. ‘I didn’t smell anything.’

Derek looked over to her. ‘Let’s go in the living room, and you’re gonna tell us everything.’ He guided Stiles with a warm hand on his back and sat next to him on a couch.

An hour later, Stiles finished explaining what happened. Yes, Erica, Boyd and Danny helped with the school part, but he did most of the talking.

Derek took a deep breath. ‘Ok. How did he seem like? Feel? You’re werewolves, what did your senses tell you?’

Boyd shrugged. ‘He was completely normal. I had no idea… He seemed like a nice person. He was nervous at first, and then content and when Greenberg picked on Stiles, he defended him and he was angry.’

‘He seemed really nice’, Danny added. ‘And most of the girls and some of the guys were drooling over him. Rest of them were drooling over Erica.’

‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, he’s adorable and you just wanna bake him a cake and make him coffee.’ Stiles turned around to Boyd. ‘How do you know that? How could you tell he was angry?’

The wolf frowned. ‘I smelled it.’

‘No, that’s… You shouldn’t be able to smell him.’

Peter snapped his fingers. ‘Yes he should, he’s a werewolf. And, as far as I know, vampires do have a distinctive smell. Even though you didn’t recognize it, you instinct should’ve told you that he wasn’t human.’

‘That’s not what I meant. Fuck.’ Stiles rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands.

‘What is it?’, Derek asked in a hushed tone, bumping their shoulders together.

‘Come on, Stiles.’ Peter said in a condescending tone. ‘Get over your crush on the blood sucking vampire and tell us what else you know.’

Derek growled, but Stiles took a deep breath and slapped the back of his hand over the wolf’s chest, stopping him from growling at his uncle.

‘He has a tattoo. It’s a… Shit. It’s a rune. Most runes only cover the smell, and they work on only one type of supernatural being. There’s different ones for werewolves, ghosts, fairies and so on and so forth. But the rune he has, it doesn’t just cover the smell, it eliminates it completely. From every supernatural being and from humans. He literally has no scent.’

‘I didn’t see a tattoo’, Daddy questioned. ‘And believe me, I’ve looked.’

‘It’s on his forearm. He had his sleeves up this morning.’ Stiles looked up at Peter. ‘So, if you said vampires have a distinct scent, and if they thought he was human, it’s safe to say the rune works and that he’s doing something else too. It’s a very bad thing, because to keep that going… you’d need a lot of mojo. And if he could give off emotion smells, besides the regular human one… Very. Very. Bad.’

‘How do you even know about runes?’ Peter narrowed his eyes.

‘Deaton. He thought I could use them… but I can’t.’

‘Why did he think you could use runes?’ Scott said with his regular confused puppy look.

Stiles shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Reasons. You ask him.’

Silence lingered on for a few more seconds, before Derek asked Stiles ‘Anything else?’

The boy shrugged. ‘No. That’s it, that’s all. Well. No. He thinks I’m dating Erica. Which, I think is a good thing, cause that would explain why I’m hanging out with werewolves. It’s better he believes that, otherwise he’d start searching for other reasons.’

‘What do we do?’, Isaac asked.                                        

‘Well, I don’t know what you’re gonna do’, Stiles said as he stood up, ‘but I am going to research the hell out of vampires, and Danny is going to research the hell out of Alex. We need to know where he came from and…’

‘Where he lives.’, Derek interrupted. ‘So we can keep an eye on him.’

Peter sighed dramatically. ‘I’ll get my laptop.’


	3. There's history

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Research.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I accidentally... used a bit of Supernatural lore. Apologies :)

Stiles finished reading the vampire entry in the Argent’s bestiary and was half way through the files Peter had on his laptop. He was started by the older werewolf snapping his fingers right in his face.

‘What?’

‘You’ve been sitting in the same position for 4 hours.’

‘No, I haven’t, it’s only…’ Stiles looked at the laptop’s clock. ‘Wow. Ok. Yeah. Where is everyone?’

Peter rolled his eyes. ‘They left 2 hours ago. But don’t worry, even in your trance you waved them off politely. Now,’ the wolf shut the laptop roughly. ‘Derek’s making burgers.’

Stiles followed Peter into the kitchen space, sitting on the opposite side of the table from him. Derek was over the stove, wearing a pair of loose black gym pants and a simple white t-shirt. The kitchen counter had a few dirty countertops and plates, and on the table there were bowls with fries and salad. He looked at Derek again, observing how the wolf shifted his weight on his left foot when he flipped the burgers, or how he wriggled the tows from his right leg. Stiles should feel embarrassed, or at least out of place, having dinner with just the two of them, in their home.

‘You’re staring.’ Peter stated calmly. He had his elbows on the table and he steadied his chin in his hand. He was smiling at Stiles and it was creepy.

‘Uhm. Yeah, I should probably go, I don’t want to…’ He was interrupted by Derek placing a plate in front of him.

‘You’re hungry and I already cooked. And you’re a bit stupid if you think you’re bugging us.’ Derek took the seat next to Stiles, both of them pretty far from Peter, considering the table was fit for 10 people.

The older werewolf laughed. ‘When Derek found this place, I thought he was insane for wanting something this big. Now I get it, he picked up stray dogs and now they won’t leave his sight.’

Stiles rolled his eyes and smiled towards the Alpha. ‘I’ve never seen you cook before.’

Derek shrugged and took a bite of his burger. Stiles did the same and maybe it was because he didn’t eat anything since last night at 4, but this was the best burger he ever had. He may have moaned.

Dinner was silent and over quickly. While Peter put the plates in the washer, Stiles got out a can of coke from the fridge.

‘Thanks a lot for dinner, but it’s getting late, I should go, I’ll finish the research another time.’

Derek narrowed his eyes. ‘You don’t have to leave. You can, if you want, but knowing you and seeing what effect Alex had on you, you won’t be able to sleep till you finish reading everything you can on vampires and forming at least 3 plans against him, at least one of them including you as bait.’

Stiles pouted. He wanted to say something, but Derek was right.

‘Call your dad, ask if it’s ok to sleep over. I’ll make sure to wake you up tomorrow in time for you to have coffee with him at home before you go to school.’

‘I’m not sure how I feel about you knowing my dad’s work schedule.’

Derek shrugged and Peter started laughing. ‘Lovely, now we’re having sleepovers! Well, at least you’re not underage anymore.’

‘Yeah, I’m old enough to carry a lethal weapon to shoot you with.’ They stared at each other for a few seconds, before the older man rolled his eyes and headed for the door.

‘I’m going out. I need a few drinks, don’t wait up.’                                                              

₪

Stiles talked to his dad as he made some coffee and when he returned to the living room, Derek was putting a pair of sweats and a t-shirt on the couch. He smiled at the boy. ‘The couch is more comfortable when you’re not wearing jeans.’

While Derek took a shower, Stiles changed his clothes, drank his coffee and returned to his research. As he read and found anything that seemed worthy, he wrote it down in a document. After he was done with everything, he read his summary again and rearranged everything, in a more logical order. He e-mailed it to all the pack and looked at the time. It was 3am and there was Hans Zimmer playing in the background. Looking around the room, he saw Derek was on the other side of the couch, reading.

‘How long have you been here?’

The wolf turned to look at him, an amused look on his face. ‘You seriously didn’t notice me?’

‘No…’

‘Wow, Stiles, you’re so alert.’

‘Sorry, I go to a very special place when I research something even remotely interesting.’

Derek smiled. ‘You also go very quiet. I’m thinking I should always give you something to look in to.’

Stiles did his best version of a glare, while the wolf put his book down on the coffee table. Oddly enough, he was reading Grimm fairytales.

‘So tell me. Vampires.’

‘Unfortunately, I didn't really find that much. Apparently, there aren’t a lot of them, so the hunters’ info was useless. But what I do now is that all the lore we know so far from pop culture is shit. They don’t burn in the sunlight, they have nothing against garlic, a steak through the heart can’t kill them, it only slows them down until they heal. But any other weapon will do that. Also, they don’t really _need_ to feed on human blood. They just need blood to survive, but it can be animal blood. They’re usually loners, don’t hang out in packs or covens or whatever. And, biggest plot twist ever! They have a heart beat and blood runs through their veins. One third of the normal quantity, but still. It’s why they’re colder, but not ice cold.’

As he talked, Derek kept frowning and turning around on the couch, ending up sitting crossed legged, facing the boy. He was doing the thing with his toes again and Stiles never saw him look so… domestic.

‘How do we kill it?’

‘I don’t know that yet. But I know in which book I have to look to find the answer and I can read it in the next town’s library. So I’ll head there tomorrow. But, there is a way we can protect ourselves. Ish.’

‘How?’

‘Runes. I’ve found a rune that will protect a body, making it impossible for a vampire to bite it. Also, it’s good to know that doesn’t change you.’

Derek took a sharp breathe. ‘What doesn’t change you?’

‘The bite. If a vampire bites you, you don’t change. If he wants to change a human, he has to bite him, then feed him his blood, once a day for three days. They don’t usually do it if the person doesn’t want it.’

The wolf put a finger over his lower lip and picked on it a couple of times before he spoke. ‘But, they are dangerous.’

‘What?’

‘Well, from what you said, they don’t need to drink humans and they don’t change them against their will.’

‘True, but we don’t know what kind of vampire Alex is, we don’t know if he truly is peaceful. The thing is, they get off on human blood, it’s like a drug to them. They can’t… O.D. on it, the more they drink, the higher they feel. That’s how they usually kill people, suck them dry to get high.’

Derek nodded. ‘We need to wait for Danny to get info on him. He said he’d hack the school records tomorrow and go to a net café after school, so he can hack… other places, I stopped listening.’

‘There’s something else.’ Stiles almost whispered and looked everywhere except Derek.

‘What?’

‘Uhm… There’s history. Thousands of years of bloody, awful, gory history between werewolves and vampires.’

‘Explain.’

 ‘Werewolves and vampires believe that they come from the same… place.’

‘Place?’, Derek frowned. 

Stiles sighed and looked at the wolf. He looked really confused and it was understandable. ‘I don’t know what you personally believe, or what you have been told, but if we ignore an evolutionary, genetic point of view… Old history says that vampires and werewolves and everything else unnatural and roaming this earth, except angels and demons of course, every … non-human was made by Eve, Mother of All. She created one each, and the original creature is called an Alpha. This is slightly confusing to me, because I’ve met a bunch of Alpha werewolves already. But, anyway. It’s supposed that at the beginning, vampires and werewolves were the most powerful of Eve’s creations, so they fought for supremacy in her eyes. They never really stopped, and at this point they just fight because they’re taught to hate eachother.’

Derek was blinking really fast. ‘I’m not sure if you just violated my entire concept about my own existence or told me a bed time story.’

‘Look, it doesn’t matter now. I assume you never heard this bed time story before, so you don’t hate vampires. Well, not more that it’s normal. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know it. We have to keep our heads up just in case he wants all of you dead.’

‘Yes. Of course. You said something about runes?’

‘Yeah, it’s a really old one, but fairly simple to draw. And if it’s combined with a few herbs that are fairly easy to find, and with a spell, it lasts a lifetime. We need to do that asap, so we should talk to Deaton tomorrow.’

‘Cause you can’t use runes.’

Stiles sighed and he knew Derek smelled his sadness. Because he was really sad and disappointed in himself. It wasn’t about not having magic, it was about not being able to do things to protect and help his pack.

‘Yes, cause I can’t use runes.’

Derek narrowed his eyes and leaned a bit forward. Even though he wasn’t near Stiles, it was a reassuring gesture. ‘You shouldn’t feel bad about that.’

‘No, I know I shouldn’t. That doesn’t mean I don’t. Eh, it’s fine, I’ll get over it.’ The boy smiled reassuringly at his Alpha.

They were silent few minutes and Stiles’ mind went back to Alex. He hated him. He scared Stiles more than he should have and he couldn’t understand why. Yes, he knew more about his nature now, but it wasn’t enough. It felt like his pack was all in the open again, even though the vampire didn’t really threaten anyone. But Stiles couldn’t forget about the rune on his forearm. That was the most freighting thing. Are all vampires powerful enough to pull that off? Or is it just Alex?

‘Stiles?’ Did he do anything to you? Directly? Physically?’

‘What? No, uhm. I told you everything that happened.’

‘This is affecting you. More than it should. More than usual.’

Stiles chewed on his lip and shrugged. He looked over at Derek and faked a look of surprise. ‘Dude. Vampires!’

Derek laughed and got off the couch. ‘Come on, I prepared a guest room for you.’

‘You shouldn’t have done that, I could’ve used the couch.’

‘No problem.’

They went up the spiral staircase and the wolf guided him to the last door. The room wasn’t really big, but it did have a double bed, a desk and a closet, all furniture being simple, made out of a dark red wood.

‘Thanks, Derek.’ Stiles stepped on the dark blue carpet and it was so fluffy he wanted to sleep there.

‘I’ll wake you up in a couple of hours. Good night.’

₪

Of course Stiles couldn’t sleep. He was all alone in a foreign room and he knew he was the first person to ever sleep in here since werewolves moved in. His mind was racing, thinking about Alex. Derek was right, this was affecting him more than it should and realizing this just made Stiles even more frustrated about the whole situation. He couldn’t come up with a plan to figure out what Alex wanted, he couldn’t come out with a way to hurt him or kill him and it was annoying.

Stiles’ phone went off, someone was texting him. At 3:30 am.

 **Derek:**   _Come to my bedroom_

 **Stiles:**?

**Derek:** _Just come here_

**Stiles:** Why?

**Derek:** _Don’t make me come there and get you_

This was weird, but Stiles obliged. He opened the door to Derek’s room slowly and peeked his head in. The wolf was in bed, on his belly, his right leg bent to the side. His hands were under the pillow and he wasn’t wearing a t-shirt. A blanket was loosely covering his lower back.

‘Derek?’

‘Come here.’ He spoke softly, Stiles figured he was already half asleep.

‘I… am here?’

‘Get in bed.’

‘Why?’

‘You can’t sleep in a new, empty room. You’re nervous and scared and you’ll be warmer here.’

The boy’s jaw dropped and it took him a few seconds to get his brain to work again.

‘Are you sure?’

‘Mhm.’

Stiles closed the door behind him and copied Derek’s position. This was weird, this whole day was incredibly weird and stressful and he was so tired. He didn’t think he could sleep in the other room, but here… it was warmer. But that didn’t stop the werewolf from covering him with the blanket, patting him on his back and letting his hand rest there. Stiles smiled and fell asleep.


	4. This is a protective rune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles meets someone new, Derek's pack get the rune and Deaton has ideas and opinions of which Stiles disapproves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the rune lore that I used is completely wrong. I pulled it out of my a$$. Just thought you should know :)

Derek woke Stiles up a few hours later. It was early in the morning, he still had enough time before he had to get to school, but the boy rushed his shower because he didn’t want to impose anymore on the werewolves. When he went down, they were both in the kitchen, making breakfast. Peter was still wearing the clothes he had on last night and he had bags under his eyes.

Stiles couldn’t resist. ‘Fun night, _uncle_ Peter?’

He rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything. Derek chucked and scrunched up his nose. ‘You really don’t want to know.’

‘Oh my god! No, no I really do not. TMI, Derek.’

The wolf faked a pleading expression and handed him a sandwich, while dramatically whispering ‘Share my pain!’.

Stiles managed to laugh, even though Derek still shocked him every time he made a joke. That didn’t happen very often, but when it did, it always caught Stiles off guard.

‘Thanks for letting me sleep over. And the sandwhich. And… yeah, you know. Uhm. I’m gonna go now.’

Derek nodded. ‘Don’t mention it. I’ll talk to you later, though.’

‘Yeah. You want me to call Deaton?’

‘No, no. I’ll do it. You go to school. And be careful.’

Stiles smiled. ‘Aren’t I always?’

Peter rolled his eyes and started gently pushing Stiles towards the door. ‘Yes, you are always cocky, now let me have my coffee in peace.’

₪

Stiles knew it will be a rough morning, considering he only slept 3 hours and his first period was Chemistry. Fortunately, 5 minutes after class started, the lady over the school intercom called Stiles to the Principal’s office.

‘What did you do this time, Stilinski?’, Harris glared.

‘I honestly have no idea, sir. It’s the second day of school, for Christ’ sake. Even I’m not that evil.’ That got him a few giggles from the class. As he was putting his books in his backpack, Scott told him to text him if anything was wrong. So, all the way down to the Principal’s office, Stiles prayed this had nothing to do with Alex.

Fortunately, it did not. Because when he got to the Principal’s secretary desk, Stiles saw her talking with a guy he didn’t recognize. He was about the same height as Stiles, his hair was a dark blonde and his eyes were light blue. He was wearing dark green skinny jeans, a simple black v-neck and a red plaid shirt over it. The boy had some muscles on him, not Derek levels of guns, but you could tell he works out. His smile reminded Stiles of Danny, because of the dimples and the cheekbones and the rainbows and sunshine and yeah ok, the guy was attractive.

‘Stiles! There you are!’, the secretary smiled, her voice a bit too high.

‘Morning, miss. What’s up?’

‘You remember when you volunteered as a guide?’ Stiles did remember, in fact. He thought that if he’d good to be the guide for the new kids in school, he’ll be able to know if anything… unnatural came along. Also, Stiles always enjoyed meeting new people, and when he volunteered, things weren’t going so well, with either Scott or anybody else, really.

‘Yes, yes I do.’ He turned around to the blonde bag of sunshine. ‘I guess you’re the new guy? Hi. Welcome to Beacon Hills High. I’m Stiles and I will be your tour guide for the day!’

The guy smiled and shook his hand. ‘Hi, I’m…’

‘No, no, no!’, the secretary interrupted. ‘Not today, Stiles. You’ll be showing Michael here around the school for an hour, not the whole day! Just for this first period, then you’ll both go to class!’

Stiles smiled mischievously. ‘Meh, that’s good enough, miss. You saved me from an hour of Harris, early in the morning. I’m happy now.’

The woman’s look changed into one of pity. ‘Does he still ... get on your nerves?’

Stiles thought about his answer for a bit. He knew the secretary for a couple of years now, she’s been here long before Stiles and she was always the one who called the Sheriff when he got in trouble or got sick. He remembers she was at his mom’s funeral and after that, she always gave him chocolate when they saw each other. Also, she always knew when Harris gave him detention. On the other hand, she was the Principal’s secretary and Stiles really didn’t want to say anything bad about Harris, even though the dick deserved it. Harris could get in trouble for treating students the way he did, but he’d probably walk away, straight back to class. And that would be bad for Stiles. So he smiled and straightened his shoulders.

‘Of course not, I am as tough as a brick wall, nothing gets on my nerves. Now, if you’ll excuse us, the school is pretty big and I have a lot of things to show Michael, so we’d better hurry if we don’t want to be late for second period.’

Stiles turned towards Michael. ‘So, where do you wanna go first?’

‘Let’s start with what’s most important. Cafeteria, then library, then pool. And you’ll have to explain how the numbering system on the regular study rooms work. Please.’

Yes, Stiles was definitely attracted to the new guy. Oops. He straightened his posture and shrugged it off, giving Michael his biggest smile.

30 minutes later, Stiles finished the tour of everything important and unimportant in the school. They headed outside to the parking lot, standing on one of the picnic tables and waited for second period to start. By now, Stiles figured Michael was shy. Yeah, he answered every question, but he never spoke first. Also, his body language was a bit weird, he always moved his palms and fingers. Yeah, ok, Stiles was used to being a spazz, but he was a spazz all the time, with every body part possible, Michael just with his hand, below the wrists. He also had trouble maintaining eye contact and had a habit of chewing his fingernails.

Stiles also learned that Michael was a swimmer and had no idea what Lacrosse even was. He was going to study history in college and he hated chemistry and math.

Halfway through the tour, Stiles got a text. Michael didn’t seem to mind that Stiles was multitasking, but he made sure they were still talking. Stiles can multitask.

**Derek:** _Dear pack, we’re going to have a lot of fun today! Meet me at Deaton’s after school._

Stiles was still writing an answer, when another text came.

**Derek:** _I am not drunk, but I am serious. Very serious. Deaton’s going to help us deal with Alex._

**Stiles:** I don’t know what just happened, but ok, Deaton’s after school.

**Derek:** _I try to joke, and everybody assumes I am drunk or high. I am DONE trying._

**Stiles:** It might be helpful if you’d try joking … you know… in person, not over texts.

**Derek:** _No, I am DONE._

**Stiles:** You’re overreacting.

**Derek:** _Am not._

**Stiles:** You’re funny. We’re just not used to it. Now stop overreacting and explain yourself.

**Derek:** _Explain what?_

**Stiles:** Why are we going to have ‘a lot of fun’ at Deaton’s?                      

**Derek:** _Because of how we’re going to get the runes._

**Stiles:** Oh, yeah. Haha. There will be screaming.

**Derek:** _Of course you know._

Stiles didn’t bother answering that, because he was done with the school tour and there were still 10 minutes left. So he and Michael sat down on one of the picnic tables in the parking lot.

‘So, if you don’t mind me asking, where are you from?’, Stiles asked because, of course, Michael was silent.

‘I’m from New York. Lived there all my life.’                                                                                  

‘Whoa, awesome. Why are you here, though?’

Michael shrugged. ‘Well, it’s just been me and my older brother for some time now. And he got tired of the big city, wanted a change in scenery, something a bit more chill. He found a good job here, so here I am.’

‘Oh. Uhm.’ Stiles rubbed at the back of his neck, uncomfortably. ‘Well, I guess Beacon Hills is a bit more chill that New York. I assume.’

‘Yeah, we’ll see. So, if you don’t mind me asking. Stiles?’

‘Yeah, what?’

‘Stiles? What kind of a name is Stiles?’

Oh, right. Sometimes, Stiles forgot that not everybody understood why he introduced himself like that. ‘It’s not my real name. Everybody just calls me that. Well, I make everybody call me that, to be honest. My real name is foreign and ugly and long and I can’t even pronounce it 100% right. Everybody calls me Stiles.’

‘Aha, ok. So, are we gonna share any classes this year?’ Michael smiled and handed him his timetable.

‘Yeah, look, we have Chemistry, Econ, Spanish and PE together.’ He used the rest of the time left till second period to tell Michael about his teachers and other random, general information on the school and students.

By the time they went to their different classes, they had each other’s number and Michael didn’t seem so shy anymore. He thanked Stiles for his help and patted him on the shoulder. He saw him again at lunch, but he was sitting with people from the swim team, so Stiles went to his normal table of misfit werewolves.

When he sat down at his normal spot, across the table from Scott, all the pack was eying him suspiciously. It was weird and slightly terrifying.

‘Is… something wrong?’

Scott narrowed his eyes and leaned closer. ‘What are we doing at Deaton’s?’

‘Uhm, we’re gonna get a rune that makes us…’, he lowered his voice. ‘Un bite-able.’

Everybody nodded, and Scott continued, in a hushed voice matching Stiles’.

‘And why will it be ... _Fun_?’

Stiles laughed and laughed and laughed. It was incredible, the effect Derek had over his pack. How a simple joke, a bad joke even, threw everybody over. Stiles was starting to get used to it. At this point, he really wanted to get to know the guy better. Yeah, they did get a long way from where they started, but Stiles realized he didn’t really know that much about him. And he might just want to.

‘Stop laughing, Stilinski!’ Stiles barely had time to put down his bottle of water. Erica pulled the chair right from under him, and before he realized it, his ass collided with the floor. And, of course, the whole cafeteria was laughing.

He got up slowly and straightened his clothes. ‘For that, dear Erica, I am not telling anyone anything. But, if I were you, I’d make sure to be hydrated.’

‘So you do know, you little bitch!’, the blonde whined, even though she was smiling.

‘Of course I know. And I’m not telling you anything.’ Stiles sat back in his spot and started eating, phone buzzing in his pocket, with a text.

**Michael:** _r u ok?_

**Stiles:** Yeah, just a friendly bruise on the ass between friends.

**Michael:** _interesting choice in friends_

**Stiles:** Shhh, don’t judge before you get to know them! :P

**Michael:** _ok :)_

₪

When the pack got to Deaton’s, the animal clinic was closed and Derek and Peter were already there. Everybody jumped on the Alpha with questions, but he didn’t say anything. He kept smiling and looking at Stiles. The boy smiled back and they fell into somewhat of a staring contest. After a few seconds, they were both laughing, but everybody around them was borderline screaming and trying to get Derek’s attention.

Stiles rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively in Derek’s general direction. He took a deep breath and screamed as long as he could. ‘Doc, you gonna explain or should I?’

The pack stopped talking and Deaton came out of one of the back rooms, with a smug smile on his face. ‘Hello, everybody. Please keep your voice down, you need to keep your strengths and I need to keep my sanity. I still have to prepare some things, so, yes, Stiles, please explain.’ He went back to one of the examining rooms.

‘Ok, so.’ Stiles took a deep breath. ‘As you read in the e-mail I sent you yesterday, there is a protective rune. It’s very old and, while it’s very powerful, it also needs a lot of power. And for that, it won’t be enough just to draw it with a marker. It has to be drawn on our skin with a certain blend of herbs, and Deaton will have to use a spell when he does it.’

‘But how does it protect us?’, Lydia rudely interrupted Stiles’ speech.

‘As I said at lunch, it makes us un bite-able. Even though we know a bite is not enough to turn us, he could just exsanguinate us. To death. This rune will only protect us from the bite. It will make it impossible for any vampire to bite into our flesh. That doesn’t mean he can’t touch us or punch us or, you know, hurt us.’

‘This leads us to the fun part.’, Derek said with a mischievous smile on his face.

Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘Yes, the _fun_ part. I think we all agree we need to make the runes permanent, so we won’t have to come back to Deaton every time they run out of power. That would be tedious and exhausting for the Doc. So, the best way to achieve a permanent rune on your body is by tattooing it.’

The pack went into chaos mode once again, some of them yelling that they don’t want a tattoo, some of them saying that they don’t like needles and some of them just generally whining. Derek let out a growl that got everybody to shut up. He nodded to Stiles to continue.

‘Thank you, Derek. Now, as I was saying, we have to get a tattoo. It would be as painful as a normal tattoo, but you’re werewolves and you heal quickly. As for us humans, yes, it will take a few days for it to heal properly, but if some of us can’t take it, I’m sure we can convince one of our werewolf friends to keep a hand on us and take the pain away, at least during the operation. Right?’

Derek nodded.

‘The best part about it, though, is that it’s invisible.’ Stiles grinned. ‘By the time it will be healed, nobody would be able to see it, not even us. Seriously, how cool is that? But you have to remember where you put it, just in case you’d need more rune tattoos down the line. Because if you overlap them, none of them would work.’

‘I’ve wanted to ask this for so long, but I was afraid I’d be rude’, Danny whispered and everybody turned their heads towards him. ‘How can you guys even get a tattoo? Doesn’t the skin heal, like, before the ink gets in there? And after it does, doesn’t your body see it as a toxin and pushes it out?’

‘Aaaah, very good question, Danny!’, Stiles smiled. ‘Derek, care to explain to the class?’

‘It’s simple, really.’, the wolf shrugged. ‘They just do it a bit deeper than they do it for humans. And they use a bit of wolfsbane and a bit of the same magic Deaton will use now. When I got mine, it didn’t hurt that much, but it did itch till the skin healed completely. It took about 8 hours, but this rune will be smaller, it won’t take that long.’

‘Can a vampire turn us?’, Isaac asked. The question startled everybody, clearly they haven’t thought of that.

Stiles smiled. ‘No. Well, yes, but it takes a lot more than just a bite and some of his blood. It has to be done during certain full moon nights of certain years of certain decades and it has to be done with magic and voodoo. The chances of that happening any time soon are miniscule. So, no, a vampire can’t change you now. But they can drink you. Even though it appears that human blood tastes better and gets them more high.’

Lydia let out a sound that should have been considered a growl, if she wasn’t human. ‘What is my life?’

Stiles chuckled. ‘Trust me, Lydia. The sooner you stop asking questions like that, the sooner you’ll feel normal again.’

Derek gave Stiles a gentle slap on the back of the head. ‘That was hurtful for us weres, so you’ll go first’.

Deaton came out again. ‘Actually, Derek. You will go first. It’s more difficult to do this on an Alpha, and I’d rather do it when I’m at full strength. Stiles will be going last.’

‘Any reason for that?’ Stiles shove his hands into his pockets, because he was feeling a bit uncomfortable with Derek’s hand on his back. The wolf probably didn’t realize his hand slipped and Stiles wasn’t going to be rude and say something.

‘Oh, just a hunch.’ Deaton smiled and it was distressing.

‘You’re still not convinced, are you? You still think I should be able to do what you do.’

Derek’s hand rose to the back of Stiles’ neck, grabbing him a bit tighter. But he didn’t say anything. Neither did the rest of the pack, but they all seemed curious.

‘Stiles, you can’t blame me for thinking it.’

‘Oh, no, I don’t blame you. But… I tried, you know I did. It didn’t work. Unfortunately.’

‘But why do you believe it should have?’, Peter asked the vet.

‘Stiles didn’t tell you?’

‘No.’, Derek answered.

‘Interesting. Well, let me explain. Our kind always has … let’s say a sixth sense when it comes to problems of the supernatural kind. Even if they do not know. Somehow, we are always drawn to it. Some call it fate.’

Stiles rolled his eyes. He’s heard all of this before and, even though he believes it, he still finds the possibility of him having magic utterly ridiculous. He didn’t really want to tell the pack the entire story, because he didn’t know how they’d react. It’s another reminder that he’s a mere mortal, that he could be something else, but he’s not. The pack all seemed to be very curious at what Deaton has to say. Derek still had his hand on his back.

The vet continued talking, in a calm rhythm. ‘In theory, our powers run in the family. Stiles has no witch in his, but it wouldn’t be the first case I’ve seen when a spark of magic just happens.’

‘So, just because Stiles ended up as part of a wolf pack, you think he can do magic?’, Derek interrupted, in a mocking tone.

‘No. That’s not true, Derek. Stiles didn’t exactly end up as part of your pack, did he?’

Stiles actually laughed at that. ‘No, I didn’t. It was hard work, let me tell you!’

Deaton rolled his eyes. ‘Let me explain the way I see it. If we analyze Stiles’ … track record, he did things that were… not impossible, but improbable. For a 16 year old human with ADD.’

‘Noooot really’, Stiles deflected.

‘Yes, really.’ The doctor continued. ‘I don’t have the time to emphasize on everything again, Stiles, but I will repeat myself just a bit.’

‘Please, don’t.’, the boy whispered, eyes glued to the floor. All the werewolves smelled his embarrassment.

‘Please, do.’ Derek said.

Deaton smiled and started talking towards the wolf. ‘Did you know Stiles knew Scott was a werewolf before he did? He just _figured it_ out. And how Kate was the one to blame for the fire, and how there was something off about Matt. Did you know Jackson and Lydia made the decision to join your pack only after talking to Stiles about it? And I’m sure I don’t have to mention how he was the one to convince Scott to do so. Did you know that at the rave last year, he didn’t have enough mountain ash to complete the circle, but, still, he managed to do it? And I’m sure you know he is incapable of submitting to a threat, even if he knows he isn’t more powerful than _the villains_ , as he likes to calls them. He has always been drawn towards Lydia, who we now know is immune. And you do know how many times he saved you and your packs’ life and how improbable those situations were. A month ago he killed two Alphas, with just a bat and wolfsbane. He is the only one in this room who said ‘no’ to an Alpha’s bite. You, Derek, trust him completely, even though you still see him as just a human. Don’t tell me you think that is normal.’

Stiles was so embarrassed he was praying that the floor would rip open and swallow him. He really wanted to run away, but Derek’s hand was still on his back. The wolf didn’t say anything, though.

Peter was the one that broke the silence, chuckling. ‘There is absolutely nothing normal about Stiles. Even his basic heartbeat is erratic.’

Stiles moved his head around and took a step forward, detaching himself from Derek’s touch. That gave him enough confidence to speak loud and clear. ‘Look, doc, I get it. I got it back when you told me first and I get it now. You have legit reasons to think I can do magic, but the truth is that I have tried and I have failed. I _am_ just a human in a werewolf pack. And now, my pack has bigger problems that we need to fix, we do not need to hear about how improbable my actions were. Ok?’

Deaton stared at him for a couple of tense seconds, before he nodded. ‘Yes, of course. Shall we start with the tattoos?’


	5. Does New York have lacrosse?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles gets a tattoo, a friend and a boyfriend.

The rune wasn’t complicated, just a bunch of lines and swirls. It was about 2 inches wide, but the spell Deaton had to say made everyone a bit jumpy. But it was a smooth tattooing session, all in all. The girls got it on their wrists, and all the guys on their biceps. Except Derek and Stiles. The wolf got it under his triskele and the boy wanted it on his calf, under his knee.

By the time Stiles was on his belly, on one of the exams tables, all the pack left, except for Isaac and Derek. Deaton started working. Fortunately, he didn’t mention the whole magic thing again. And the needle didn’t hurt that much, it was a manageable pain.

‘Why are you getting it there?’, Isaac asked from across the room, after a couple of minutes. Stiles couldn’t see him, he could only see Derek, who was sitting on a chair right in front of him, carefully watching what Deaton was doing.

‘Uhm. Does it matter?’

‘I’m just curious. I get why Derek wanted to be special, but you broke our bro code, man.’

Stiles laughed. ‘Geesh. Maybe I have other things in mind for the body part you chose.’

He saw Derek raise an eyebrow in an amused matter.

‘I don’t get it.’ Isaac was pouting.

‘Maybe I want something else tattooed there.’

‘Oh.’ Isaac moved and stood next to Derek. 'Like what?'

‘I was thinking about a pinup girl on my right bicep, my jeep on the left, angel wings on my back, my mom and dad’s name on my chest, a wolf on my ribs. You know, the usual.’

Isaac and Derek looked unsure. And Stiles was bored, so he pushed on.

‘Hey, Isaac, you have a pretty face. Maybe I’ll get your portrait on my ass. Would that be ok?’

The wolf looked shocked for a few seconds, than grinned like a 2 year old in a candy shop. ‘Thanks, Stiles. You have a pretty face too.’

As they were laughing, Derek shook his head ‘I’m surrounded by children.’

‘That’s your own fault.’ Stiles winked.

‘Do you really want tattoos, though?’, the Alpha asked in a serious tone.

‘Yeah. Some. Not a girl or my jeep.’

‘Oh, so you want serious, big boy tattoos?’, Derek mocked.

‘Yup.’

‘Like what?’, Deaton asked, and Stiles remembered he was also in the room. He didn’t really feel any pain from the tattoo anymore.

‘Personal things, I guess. I always loved how my mom’s signature looked and I’d want that, I don’t care how cheesy that sounds. And some other personal stuff. And maybe an anti possession tattoo, that couldn’t hurt, right?’

‘Demons exist only in tv shows, Stiles’, the doctor assured him, even though they all knew he was lying. ‘That’s it? Only personal things?’

‘No…’, the boy blushed. ‘Maybe, if we’re still friends in a couple of years, I’ll bug you with some more runes.’

Derek’s eyes shot up at the vet, but Stiles couldn’t see him.

‘Well, your first tattoo is done. Even if it’s invisible. The pain will go away in a couple of days.’

‘Oh. It doesn’t hurt right now, thanks.’                                                                                                                                 

Isaac frowned. ‘Mine still does.’

₪

After they left the clinic, Stiles and Isaac drove to the next town over, to the library, looking for the book that explained how to kill a vampire. Derek went over to talk to the Argents, tell them about the vampire. They had an arrangement of sorts, the hunters would stay off the packs back, and the wolves had to keep them updated about the supernatural things happening in Beacon Hills. Stiles got nervous every time Derek would go over to their place, because he always went alone. But Chris Argent has proven himself, he stayed true to their agreement. And the wolf told Stiles that they’d always talk in their back yard, Alison nowhere in sight. But still, he made Derek promise to text Isaac when he left the meeting.

Isaac and Stiles were silent most of the way, only talking when an idiot song came on the radio and they made fun of it. Once they got to the library, Stiles made his way quickly around it, grabbing the book he was looking for and two others.

‘This aren’t on the take out list, so we have to look through them here, sorry.’, the boy explained as he made his way to a table.

‘No problem. I’ll help if you let me.’

‘Sure. Here.’ Stiles handed him one of the books. ‘Look through this and see if we can find anything we don’t already know.’

‘Ok. Can I ask you something?’

‘Of course?’

‘How often do you come here?’

Stiles snorted. ‘I gotta say, Isaac, as far as pick up lines go, that’s a pretty bad one.’ The wolf glared, but he still looked adorable. ‘Uhm, yeah, I don’t know. I stopped counting? This one is better stocked than the one in Beacon Hills when it comes to my line of inquiry.’

‘So, do you enjoy it? The research?’

‘Yeah? My mom used to work in the library back home, and I grew up mostly in there. I’ve always enjoyed reading, but when I grew up just enough to pick the books I’ve read, I wasn’t that keen on fairytales and fiction that much. I preferred facts.’

‘So you’ve always been this weird?’

Stiles chuckled. ‘Yes, Lahey, yes I have. Now shut up and read.’

They finished fairly quick, in an hour. On the road back, Stiles texted the whole pack.

 **Stiles:** In order to kill a vampire, one must rip his heart out. Literally. So, Team Human, I guess we won’t be going all Buffy in this situation.

Isaac laughed when he got the text as well, even though he was sitting next to Stiles. A couple of minutes later, both of their phones rang, but before the boy got his phone out of his pocket, there were two more.

**Derek:** _Sleepover at my place. ALL teams expected. Bring food._

**Derek:** _You can come straight here with Isaac._

**Derek:** _Bring your laptop._

Stiles sighed. ‘So, it’s my place to grab my pjs and laptop, grocery store to get chocolate and then your place.’

‘Derek said food, not chocolate.’

‘Ugggh, everybody will bring food, they’ll all forget about the chocolate.’

₪

When they got to Derek’s place, the Alpha was watching Star Wars. The original ones. So Stiles and Isaac sat next to him on the couch, did what little homework they had, and enjoyed the movies.

The pack arrived after the movies were over. They talked for about an hour, but they couldn’t really do anything about the Alex situation. The wolves would keep their eyes on him on school and they’ll stalk his house for a bit, but he hasn’t shown any signs of being a threat. So they decided they’d all be careful and act as normal as possible in his class. Stiles hated the situation, but he knew they were right, he couldn’t do anything. Just because he has a feeling, doesn't mean Alex is evil. Hopefully, Stiles’ feeling is just a feeling.

₪

They all got into their pajamas and lounged around the living room, watching some idiot romcom that made them all laugh at how bad it was. Stiles was sitting next to Peter, but 10 minutes after the movie started, the older wolf walked out of the apartment, muttering ‘I am too old for sleepovers, I’m going out to drink, stay out of my room.’ Derek closed the door after him and took his place. After a few minutes, the wolf slipped lower on the couch and rested his head against Stiles’ upper hand. He thought the wolf would fall asleep, but he didn’t.

Half way through the movie, Stiles phone started ringing. He put it on silent and read the text.

**Michael:** _hi_

**Stiles:** Hi :), whatsup?

**Michael:** _nothing much, bored. u?_

**Stiles:** I’m watching a stupid romcom with some friends. I’m also bored.

**Michael:** _so theres no chance I can take you out for coffee now_

**Stiles:** No, not now, sorry.

**Michael:** _other time?_

**Stiles:** Sure!

**Michael:** _tomorrow after school?_

**Stiles:** Ok.

 **Stiles:** How do you like Beacon Hills this far?

**Michael:** _seems nice, havent seen that much around. school seems ok, tho_

**Stiles:** Haha, you’ll get over that soon enough. I saw you made it on the swim team?

**Michael:** _yup:D_

**Stiles:** _Congrats!_

**Michael:** _thanks. youll come see me, right?_

**Stiles:** Only if you’ll come see my lacrosse.

**Michael:** _but youll have to explain it_

**Stiles:** I still don’t understand how you do not know what lacrosse is. Don’t they have it in New York?

**Michael:** _idk? its a piece of information that slipped right past me, apparently_

**Stiles:** Thankfully, you have me now to correct this mess 1!11!!

**Michael:** _yeah. arent ur friends mad ure ignoring them?_

Stiles looked around. They were all still watching the movie, nobody was playing attention to him. Except Derek. He was still watching the movie, but he was also rubbing small circles with his thumb on Stiles’ leg. How did he not notice that?

 **Stiles:** A bit, yeah. They’ll get over it.

**Michael:** _i will not have that fight on my conscience. i’m gonna shower. see you tomorrow._

**Stiles:** Thank you. See you tomorrow!

Stiles put his phone on the coffee table and moved his hand a bit, getting Derek’s attention.

‘Does New York have lacrosse?’

‘What kind of a question is that?’

‘A curious one?’

Derek rolled his eyes and took his place back on Stiles’ hand, nudging it with his head, like that’s going to make it softer. ‘I don’t know, Stiles, I was too busy with college and work and watching baseball’.

‘College?’

‘Yeah. Marketing and a bit of art.’

Stiles was in shock. He really didn’t know Derek at all. He stopped looking down at the wolf and turned his eyes towards the tv.

‘I hate that I don’t know you.’, the boy whispered.

‘Right back at you.’, the wolf responded after a few heartbeats.

That night, Stiles ended up sleeping in Derek’s bed. Again. But before they went to sleep, they watched a couple of Derek’s favorite short films in bed, on Stiles’ laptop. It didn’t feel like a weird thing to do.

₪

The next month was quiet on the supernatural front. Alex didn’t do anything… evil. And English classes were entertaining, from an educational point of view. Stiles was still on edge about it, but he learned to get used to it.

On the Stiles front, a few things changed. He started dating Michael, and that was fun, even though a bit unexpected. He liked him a lot, and they really got along. They weren’t very ‘out there’ at school, but when the last bell rang, they hang out almost every day. Grabbing coffee or food, seeing movies, walking around town, they even went ice skating once. Michael was an easy guy to get along with, and he understood Stiles’ sense of humor. They liked the same things and the physical aspect of their relationship was good. Really good. They didn’t have sex yet, but Stiles had a feeling that was going to happen sooner, rather than later. He didn’t love Michael, of course he didn’t, he only knew the guy for a month. But he liked him quite a lot. And the feeling appeared to be mutual.

Also, Stiles’ relationship with Derek evolved, much to everyone’s surprise. It’s like the ‘I hate that I don’t know you’ line opened up a big door to the Alpha’s personality. They started texting random things throughout the day, even hanging out just the two of them. Stiles would go early before every pack meet and they’d just talk. About movies, books, comics, sports, everything. They talked about their families and memories growing up and Stiles babbled about school stuff and they even gossiped about the rest of the pack. They both realized they were similar in more ways than they expected. Stiles had a feeling their mothers would have got along really well, because it seems that the education they both got home was basically, the same. Except, you know, the whole werewolf thing.

Stiles wanted to tell Derek about Michael, and he knew the wolf could hear his heart beat go insane, because he was nervous. The Alpha didn’t know he was bi, and Stiles really hoped that he wouldn’t have a problem with that. He didn't have a problem with Danny, so it should be ok, right? Would he have a problem with the fact that he was dating outside the pack, was that even a thing? Derek’s opinion mattered because Derek was his friend and his Alpha.

‘So, I have to tell you something.’

‘Obviously. Your heart’s beating like crazy. What did you do?’

They were at Derek’s apartment, eating ice cream in the kitchen, waiting for the rest of the pack to arrive for movie night. Stiles smiled and looked away from the wolf.

‘I got myself a boyfriend. A month ago. He’s human.’

Derek just laughed for a couple of minutes, while Stiles stared, eyes wide. ‘Ok. Ok. You idiot. One, I know. I’ve been smelling him on you and Erica and Lydia talk about you guys all the time, please make them stop. Two, I see you’re happy and I’m glad. Three, if he hurts you, I’ll claw him down.’

When Stiles got his breath back, he smiled at his Alpha. ‘Dude. We’re really friends now, aren’t we?’

Derek started laughing again and told him to stop calling him ‘dude’.


	6. That's the problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles' life takes another turn. It's not a nice one.

Stiles was in his boyfriends room for the first time. They have been dating for over a month, and judging by how every make out session would leave them hard and frustrated, Stiles was very happy about where he was right now. On Michael’s bed, on top of the covers, with Michael on top of him, straddling his hips. With his fingers in Michael’s hair and his tongue on Michael’s neck. With Michael muttering curse words and tracing his fingers under Stiles’ t-shirt. With Michael rocking his hips and biting at his lower lip.

Stiles was excited, and he really wanted this to happen. He liked Michael a lot and he had no problem in admitting he was a horny teenage boy. So, of course, that’s when they heard a car pull into the driveway, and Stiles realized that Michael’s brother, whom he hadn’t met yet, came home.

‘Fuck’, he groaned into the other’s boy neck, while they both tried to catch their breath.

‘I am so fucking sorry.’, Michael whispered as he got off the bed, and turned the tv on.

‘Yeah…’ Stiles slapped himself as he tried to get his body back to normal. ‘Yeah, I know.’

‘Michael?’, his brother yelled from somewhere in the house, and Stiles’ heart skipped a beat, even though he didn’t know why.

‘We’re in my room’, Michael yelled back and leaned over to place a quick, chaste kiss on Stiles’ lips.

As the door opened, Stiles’ smile fell instantly and his heart started beating really fast. Because Michael’s brother was a fucking vampire.

‘Aaaah, Stiles!’ Alex was smiling. ‘It’s good to see you outside of the classroom for once!’

‘Awh, maaan. Don’t tell me you’re his teacher!’, Michael whined.

Stiles was frozen in his place, but he knew he needed to calm down and get out of there. He promised Derek he’ll be safe, he promised he won’t piss off the vampire. And here he was, in his house! In his bed with Michael, his brother, what does that even mean? It explains why Michael was always a bit colder to the touch, Stiles had to get used to that. Oh god, Michael was a vampire too. He knew it, Alex was up to something, Alex and Michael were up to something, that’s why he was dating Stiles, for some reason. And he was so stupid and fell into his trap. Shit.

‘Stiles, are you ok?’, Alex asked, snapping him back to reality.

‘I have to go!’, he started moving towards the door and the older vampire moved aside.

‘But I drove you here!’, Michael tried to grab his hand, but he managed to dodge that.

‘I’ll fucking walk.’

Thankfully, none of the vampires followed him. He didn’t even make it out the house before he dialed Derek’s number.

‘Stiles.’

‘Are you busy?’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘I need a ride.’

‘Are you hurt?’

‘No. I need a ride.’

‘Where are you?’

‘Alex’s place.’

‘What?’, Derek screamed and Stiles couldn’t really take it, he never liked it when the wolf raised his voice. So he yelled back.

‘Shut the fuck up and get here!’

₪

Ten minutes later, Stiles managed to calm down. He was walking down the street at a slow pace, with his backpack thrown over one shoulder and his hands in his pocket. His heart beat was steady and normal, and he wasn’t sweating anymore, but he still felt sick. He made such a big mistake, he had been stupid and oblivious.

Derek’s Camaro pulled to a stop right next to him with a screech of tires. Stiles got in and put on his seatbelt. The wolf was looking at him with a really concerned look. It was a weird facial expression for Derek, so Stiles started laughing. He realized it was a shock-induced reaction, he realized he sounded like a mad person, but he couldn’t really stop.

He was laughing so hard, he could barely breathe and he was bent over his tummy, because it hurt. Tears might have been falling on his face. When he managed to calm down a bit, Derek put a hand on his back and sighed loudly.

‘I’m gonna drive us back to my place, and when we’ll get there you’ll be calm and tell us what happened. Ok?’

Stiles nodded.

‘Are you sure you’re not hurt?’

‘He didn’t lay a finger on me.’

When they got to the apartment, the whole pack was there. Stiles groaned loudly (and pretty manly, if you ask him) and collapsed on one of the empty couches, face buried in a pillow. Derek stood on the nearest coffee table, and Scott crouched near the armrest of the couch, rubbing the back of the boy’s neck, just like his mom used to do when he got sick as a kid.

‘Dude, what happened?’. Scott was concerned and Stiles really wished none of them were here. He really wished it was just him and Derek, maybe this would have been less embarrassing. He knew the wolf wouldn’t judge him. The rest… not so much.

Stiles groaned and answered without lifting his head from the pillow. ‘So, you know Michael?’

‘I swear to god, Stilinski’, Jackson said, tone a bit too pissed off than normal. ‘If we’re all here because you broke up with your stupid boyfriend…’

Stiles groaned again, and if he wasn’t breathing into that pillow, it might have come out as a scream.

‘But…’ Derek’s voice was low and unsure. ‘You were at Alex’s house. What does Michael have to do with it?’

‘That’s the problem.’, the boy whispered.

‘Oh my god!’. That was Lydia’s voice, and of course she was the one to figure it out first. She was the smartest person in the room, after all. The girl continued, in an amused tone. ‘Stiles, did you have sex with a vampire?’

‘What?’, different voices from the room asked at the same time.

Stiles sighed and sat up on the couch, hugging the fluffy pillow. Boy, he was so glad Derek got fluffy pillows for his bachelor pad. Yes, fluffy pillows were good. But, back to the problem at hand, Stiles’ death by embarrassment.

 ‘Michael is Alex’s brother. I’m not sure what that means, but I’m pretty sure he’s a vampire too. He never told me anything, I didn’t see fangs and black eyes, but now that I think about it, he is colder and… shit, the scar on his ribs looks exactly like the stupid smell rune. Fuuuuuck.’

‘Did you?’, Peter asked clearly, raising an eyebrow. The jerk.

‘No, his brother came home before-OH MY GOD did I just say that out loud? Someone please kill me now.’ Stiles buried his face into his hands and prayed for death. He could hear Peter chuckling and prayed for the wolfs death too.

The next thing he heard clearly, after a few minutes of whispering around the room, was Derek’s voice, calm and controlled, which meant he was in Alpha mode. ‘Ok, you can all go home now. Once again, there’s nothing we can do, cause the vampires didn’t threaten Stiles, they didn’t even follow him, they gave us no reason to take action. So, for now, all of you will pay extra attention to both of them, Alex and Michael. Stiles, give me your phone.’

‘Huh?’

‘I’m calling the Sheriff, you’re not going to be alone tonight.’

And Stiles couldn’t really argue with that.

₪

After the pack left, Peter made him grilled cheese, and Stiles was grateful that the older wolf didn’t say anything else. He spent the evening on the couch, in Derek’s clothes, with the Alpha by his side, watching bad movies and eating chocolate.

Well after midnight, they went to bed, and none of them found it weird that they’d both sleep in Derek’s bed again. Stiles was lying on his belly, hands under the pillow and the wolf was next to him, on his back.

‘Stiles?’

‘Mh?’

Derek shifted, but didn’t look at him. Stiles could tell that he was uncomfortable. ‘Look, I’m sorry. I know you like him and, well. He didn’t threaten you, none of them did. Maybe they aren’t…’

‘Evil?’, Stiles chuckled.

‘Yeah.’

‘We don’t know that.’

‘But Michael… he…’

As amusing as Stiles normally found Derek’s problem with finding words to express his ideas, this current situation they were in was making him frustrated. It was the middle of the night, god damn it, brain to mouth filters shouldn’t exist anymore.

‘Derek, just say it.’

The wolf closed his eyes and let out a long breath. He clenched his fist and looked like he was about to stab himself with his own claws. When he spoke, he was upset, yet, determined.

‘You care about him. And before today, you were certain he cared about you too. You shouldn’t have to break up with him. Yes, nobody would like it and we would constantly worry about your safety, the vampires could be… up to something. But the rune is protecting you somewhat and you know we’ve all have your back.’

Did Derek really say that? Did that actually happen? ‘What?’, he managed to say out loud.

The wolf turned his head and looked at Stiles, a small smile on the corners of his mouth. ‘He makes you happy. You should be able to have that. And if _you_ trust him… We won’t say anything.’ Derek spoke like it was the most logical thing in the world.

Did that really happen? Stiles’ mouth was open and his eyes wide. He took a few moments to come back to reality.

‘I was not expecting you to say that. Non in a million years, dude.’

Derek rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t call me dude.’

‘I don’t trust him.’

‘Oh?’

‘I thought I did. And I thought I cared about him. But for the past hours, I have been over analyzing everything that ever happened and I figured out I just liked the fact that we liked the same things. And that he liked me. And that’s so fucking lame and I was so fucking stupid, I should have seen it. So no, I don’t…’

He couldn’t find the right words anymore, and wow, that was new!

‘Thank you, Derek. Really. But I don’t want to have anything to do with him ever again.’

The wolf nodded. They stood in silence for a few minutes, none of them sleeping. Stiles turned around on his side, facing Derek and poking his side.

‘Hey… since when do we … talk about feelings and… whatnot?’

Derek looked panicked, so Stiles continued in a soothing tone, with a light note of amusement. ‘Since when do we have serious, grown-up talks?’

Derek visibly calmed down and pulled the blanket over his stomach, playing with the hem of it.

‘I don’t even know.’, he pouted. ‘It’s weird.’ There was a pause, long enough for Stiles to consider getting out of bed and going home. But the wolf continued. ‘It’s really weird. But it’s kinda not?’

Stiles nodded. ‘Makes sense.’                                                                                                

‘Does it?’

‘No.’

They looked in each other’s eyes for a few seconds, then they both laughed. Stiles took the pillow from under his head and hugged it close to his chest, closing his eyes. ‘I’m soooo done with boys.’

‘Back to girls, then?’ Derek was amused.

‘Neah, I don’t think Erica likes me that way.’

‘Uhm… What?’

Stiles smirked, eyes still close. ‘I was joking, dumbass.’

Derek slapped him on his forehead. ‘I’m the Alpha, you’re in MY bed, fucking stop calling me names.’ He moved his hand a bit and gently traced his fingers on Stiles’ head.

‘Good night, sourwolf.’ That got him a puff and a chuckle.

₪

Derek woke up the next day to an empty bed. He panicked for a second, but then he heard Stiles' heart beat and mumbling. He was in the kitchen, listening to music and making coffee.

When the wolf got downstairs, he stopped in the doorway and just… assessed the situation. Peter was sitting at the table, reading the news on his laptop. There was a cup of coffee and a stack of pancakes next to him. His uncle smiled and rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything to let Stiles know that Derek was there.

Stiles was still wearing Derek’s clothes, even though the sweatpants were close to falling off and the tshirt didn’t fit him at all. He was barefoot and he was dancing. Or, something like that. Stiles was swinging his hips left and right in a very dramatic manner, moving his feet faster than anyone should be able to do so early in the morning. He was making pancakes on the stove, and what seemed to be a syrup made entirely out of sugar. Even though he was handling three pots, his hands were also incorporated in the dance. Stiles was also mumbling what, Derek assumed, were the lyrics to the song. It was I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor by Arctic Monkeys. He remembered this wasn’t the first time he saw Stiles cooking/dancing to this song. How was Peter putting up with this?

‘It’s way too early for Arctic Monkeys’. Derek said a bit louder than he should have, making sure Stiles heard him. The boy didn’t startle, but he did stop his performance and turned off his ipod.

Stiles turned around and grinned, looking straight into the Alpha’s eye. One could say it was totally fake, but Derek could tell that the boy really was content. So he nodded and took a seat next to his uncle, deciding to just let Stiles do his thing, resting his head on the table and closing his eyes. Derek was not a morning person.

A few minutes later, the stove was off and Derek was handed a mug with hot coffee.

‘This isn’t our normal coffee.’

‘No, it’s not.’, Stiles said, grabbing two plates filled with pancakes and placing them on a table. ‘Well, it is actually, your normal coffee, but it’s not made the way you make it normally. And I may have added some spices.’

‘Spices?’ Derek will always and forever be afraid of Stiles in the kitchen, since the incident with the exploding pizza. Even if he insists it was Scott’s fault.

‘Yup. You’ll love it, trust me.’

The wolf looked towards his uncle, who nodded once, not even looking at him. He took a sip, and Stiles was right, once again. He did love it.

‘I was right, I see it on your face. SUCCESS!’ Stiles raised his fist in the air. ‘Now eat your pancakes, you’ll love the syrup too.’

‘What is it?’

‘Sugar, different combination of spices and wine.’

‘You’re making me have wine at 6 am? YOU’RE having wine at 6 am on a school day?’

Stiles just smiled sheepishly, and Peter mumbled ‘Worth it’, around a mouthful of pancakes.

They were right, but Derek knew better than to praise Stiles’ cooking skills. They ate in silence, and when the boy got out of the shower, the wolf was ready to drive him to school.

‘You’re doing pretty good today.’, the Alpha narrowed his eyes.

Stiles smiled. ‘Yeah, I am. It was nothing a good night’s sleep couldn’t cure.’

Derek didn’t believe him, but the boys heart beat told him he wasn’t exactly lying. ‘Will you be ok at school?’

‘Yeah. The fuckers won’t even try to get close to me. Not when I’ll be surrounded by the pack.’

Derek grinned at that, because he knew how much the pack cared about Stiles, they wouldn’t let anything happen to him. So he drove Stiles to school, and the boy thanked him for everything before reaching for the door handle. He stilled for a second, then turned around quickly and gave Derek a strong hug, cheeks touching. It was awkward, because they were in the car and the gear shift was between them and they were in the school parking lot. But Stiles seemed to be happy, even if he was a bit cautious. So Derek put a hand on the back of the boy’s neck and smiled.

‘Are you using me to make Michael jealous?’

Stiles jerked back with a look of complete shock and fear on his face. But when he saw Derek laughing, he started laughing too. The wolf pinched Stiles’ leg. ‘You’re welcome. And late, if you don’t go away now.’

Stiles got out of the car and closed the door. He whispered ‘You’re so weird, sourwolf.’ Derek frowned and watched him laugh his way to the entrance, with Isaac and Boyd on each of his sides.

₪

Stiles was wrong. So very, very wrong. Because even though he was sitting at his normal lunch table, surrounded by the whole pack, Michael was still heading towards him. Ok, Michael didn’t exactly ever talk to any of the pack, for some reason Stiles was not going to question, but he could smell they were wolves, right? Was he insane?

Apparently. Because he kept walking towards them, a determined look in his eyes. The closer he got, the tenser the wolves would be. They were in the middle of the cafeteria, and werewolf and vampire tension in a public place was bad. But Stiles was going to stay calm and manage this as smoothly as possible.

Michael stopped half a feet away from Scott’s chair, facing Stiles. They just stared at each other for a few seconds, time in which all the wolves on the opposite side of the table from Stiles turner around, so they were facing the enemy.

The vampire didn’t really pay attention to them. He kept staring straight into Stiles’ eyes. And the boy couldn’t stand the silence anymore, so of course he asked, in a smug tone:  ‘Can I help you with anything?’

Michael blinked a couple of times, than he nodded and took a deep breath. ‘Uh… Alex told me. I didn’t know. Before.’

‘Know what? That you were a vampire, or… what?’

‘That… you knew what he was.’

‘Oh. So what do you want?’

Michael looked confused, but Stiles wasn’t having any of this shit. He put on his game face, spoke clearly and determined.

‘Come on, what do you want? You must have figured out that we have protection runes, so you can’t really suck us dry. Or, you know, turn us. Well, the ones that you can actually turn this century. So. What the hell do you want? You’re not welcomed on this territory and you know it.’

Michael opened his mouth a couple of times, like he was about to say something, but he didn’t. Stiles rolled his eyes and let his anger take the best of him. He should return the embarrassment the vampire caused him, or something. Stiles wasn’t good with embarrassing people. But he still could try something.

‘Have you met my pack, Michael? Well, this is just… most of it. Our Alpha isn’t here, cause he’s not in highschool anymore, and his uncle isn’t here either. For obvious reasons. Oh god’, he laughed and turned to Erica, who was standing beside him. ‘Can you imagine Uncle Crazy Pants in here? Just chilling in the cafeteria, doing his math homework, rushing through the hallways, not wanting to get late to Harris’ class. Whoa, disturbing mental image.’

That got a chuckle from Boyd and Isaac. Stiles vaguely heard Lydia whisper ‘I don’t even have to imagine’, but he’ll ask her about that later. Because right now, Michael looked like someone threw a grenade down his throat.

‘Your… _your_ pack?’

Stiles smiled. ‘I guess Alex didn’t tell you everything, did he?’

Michael just kept moving his eyes across the table, mouth slightly opened and eyes wide.

‘What do you and Alex want in Beacon Hills, Michael? Neither of you have done anything until now, but you are up to something. What the fuck do you want?’

The vampire closed his eyes and let out a long breathe. ‘Nothing. We don’t want anything from you. We just want to live a normal life. Tell your Alpha we’re not a threat.’

‘He’s not gonna believe that.’ Boyd said in a completely monotone voice that made even Stiles’ spine feel a bit colder.

Michael looked him over, and nodded. Once his eyes were back on Stiles, he smiled. No black eyes, no fangs. But in the month they have been dating, Stiles never saw him look like this. He was… evil. And terrifying. And dangerous. And Stiles wished he could rip his heart out right now.

‘I knew you were special.’

And with that, he turned around and left the cafeteria, leaving Stiles with a very very bad feeling in his gut and a weird taste in his mouth.


	7. I think we need Deaton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The situation changes a bit more.

Stiles didn’t even see Michael around the school anymore, except for the four classes they shared. Fortunately, he shared them with various members of the pack too, and the wolves made sure he wasn’t ever alone while in school. He was grateful, he really was, but he also felt bad about having to be protected like this. But it wasn’t anything he could do about it, even though he tried. Repeatedly. Derek would not have it, and he kept saying Stiles should be grateful he got alone time when he was home.

And he was, he really was, but that didn’t stop Stiles from thinking he was a burden to the pack. Of course, he never said this out loud. Just like he never told anyone his theories, as to why Alex and Michael were interested in him. Truth be told, Stiles had no idea. And boy, did he want to find out.

But what he did know was that things were getting worse. At least from his perspective. Every time he was in the same class with one of the vampires, Stiles would feel sick. His heart will beat faster than normal, he would feel tired, his throat would be dry and it would be harder for him to concentrate, no matter how much Adderall he would take.

Yes, the wolves would notice something was wrong, but they just thought it was fear. Stiles didn’t tell them differently, but it most definitely wasn’t fear. Stiles wasn’t afraid of the vampires, he knew that they wouldn’t hurt him while in school. But it was like his whole body tried to prove him wrong. He felt like he used to feel before a panic attack, sweaty, cold, sick, and anxious. But the attack never came. His rune tattoo was digging into his skin. It didn’t really hurt, be he could… feel it there.

And it all went away the second he got out of the class room. But it became worse, over the weeks. Every single class, his head hurt a bit more, his tattoo started properly hurting, and now, he felt like he was about to throw up. He was in English class, with Erica sitting next to him, and Boyd and Danny in front of them. Stiles’ head hurt, he was sweating, his heart beat was fast and frantic, and he was cold, even though the rune was burning into his calf. He couldn’t even hear what Alex or his colleagues were saying; he just put his head on the table and hugged his tummy, hoping he’d be able to feel warmer.

He felt Erica putting a reassuring hand on his back, and the other on his knee. She leaned over and whispered in his ear ‘Stiles. You need to tell me what’s wrong, babe, so I can help you. Is it a panic attack? Are you hurting? Can I take the pain away?’

Stiles took her hand and whispered, knowing she’ll be able to hear him. ‘I just feel sick. I’d say it’s food poisoning, but that doesn’t explain why my tattoo feels on fire.’

‘Your… tattoo? The… rune?’

‘Yeah.’

The blonde squeezed his hand and started talking to Alex. Stiles couldn’t really hold on to their conversation, but when he heard him say ‘Yes, of course, take him to the nurses’ office’, he got up and made his way out of the classroom as fast as he could.

He saw Erica rushing to gather their things from the desk, he knew she’ll find him eventually. Stiles didn’t make it to the nurse, once he left the classroom, he ran to the bathroom. He threw up and, somewhere along the way, he started crying.

He made his way to the sinks and washed his face. He felt better, but not entirely fine. Erica was behind him, and Stiles was startled, because he completely forgot about her. She put her hand on his forehead and scrunched up her nose.

‘Stiles, you’re burning up.’ She put her hand on his back. ‘Let’s go to the nurse.’

‘Okay.’

₪

But of course, he couldn’t really tell the school nurse what exactly was happening. So he told her as much as he could, and she concluded that it was probably food poisoning, giving him some stomach pills and something to get his fever down.

‘I’m going to go call the Sheriff, to come pick you up and take you home, ok?’

Stiles nodded, and sat down on the bed, head in Erica’s lap. The girl put a hand on the back of his neck and started talking to the nurse, voice soft and girly.

‘I can take him home, if he’s too busy. You can tell me what I need to do and I’ll do it.’

The nurse smiled at her, but left to call the Sheriff either way.

When she came back a couple of minutes later, Erica was still tracing shapes with her fingers on Stiles’ head, and he was playing with a stress ball he carried around in his backpack. The motion usually helped him focus again, after a panic attack. Now, it just gave him something to do.

‘Stiles, your father is busy at the station, but I made sure to tell him you’re feeling better now. He also said he didn’t want Erica here missing out on school on your behalf.’ The girl pouted, but the nurse just shot her a ‘You’ll listen to me, young lady, because I am older and I know best’ look. After Erica rolled her eyes, the nurse continued.

‘So, he’ll be sending someone called Derek? To take you home.’

Stiles groaned and Erica took his hand.

‘What’s wrong, sweetie? You don’t want him to take you home?’, and yes, Stiles could see why the nurse might assume that.

‘It’s not that, ma’am. It’s just that I hate screwing up his schedule.’

‘Oh. I’m sure he doesn’t mind, he did offer to do it.’, she smiled fondly.

‘How do you know that?’ it was Erica that asked.

‘Because he was there when I talked to the Sheriff? I heard him offer. So, Stiles, you don’t have to worry about that, ok? But you need someone to make sure you get better.’

Stiles nodded. ‘Thank you.’

₪

Derek got to the school 5 minutes later. The nurse told him that Stiles needed fluids and sleep, and that he should be more careful with what he eats. She also gave him a couple of more pills.

Stiles was feeling a bit better now, or at least he seemed to have more energy. The three of them made their way out to the parking lot and Derek held his hand out.

‘Keys.’

As he handed them out, Erica asked his Alpha ‘Where’s the Camaro? Do you need us to drive it back home?’

‘No, I ran here.’

Stiles shivered. ‘Dude. You ran here. In 5 minutes?’

‘I was already at the station when the school called your father.’

‘Why?’

Derek shrugged. ‘Later. Let’s get you home now, ok?’

Before they left, Stiles hugged Erica and thanked her, as she kissed his forehead. ‘Get well soon, Batman. And if you ever scare me like that ever again, I’ll make you pay.’

Stiles hugged her a bit harder. Derek spoke and when he looked over at him, the wolf was smiling a bit. ‘Erica, be careful what you tell Alex, if he asks.’

₪

‘Can we stop by the grocery store?’, Stiles asked as soon as he got into the Jeep’s passenger seat.

Derek started the car. ‘What do you need?’

‘Hot chocolate, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, chips, strawberries and orange juice.’

‘Does that mean you’re feeling better?’

‘A bit. It means I just need some calories.’

‘So, this wasn’t food poisoning?’ Derek raised an eyebrow and looked at Stiles with that ‘I mean business’ look that he always had on when dealing with other supernatural creatures.

Stiles just smiled and pulled out his phone. He texted the pack, letting them know he was feeling better, and he called his father.

₪

When they got home, Stiles instructed Derek to put all the groceries on the coffee table in the living room, and to pick out a movie they could watch. He took a quick shower and brushed his teeth.

He went to his bedroom and took his Adderall. After he put on a pair of boxers and a t-shirt, Stiles realized that his tattoo was still burning. It wasn’t as powerful as it was in the classroom, that’s why he forgot about it, but it still hurt.

Looking down to the back of his knee, Stiles gasped. ‘Derek, I think we need Deaton.’

The wolf was in his room in record time, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed Stiles’ tattoo. Which was glowing. Blue. Light blue. It was glowing a cold, light blue color. Which was weird, cause that was the color of water, and the tattoo was burning his skin, shouldn’t it be glowing red? Like fire? Also, shouldn’t he be a bit more worried about this? He should, but Stiles felt calm. Almost peaceful. This was so wrong.

He was startled by Derek kneeling beside him, gently touching his tattoo.

‘Does it hurt?’

Stiles couldn’t take his eyes away from Derek’s hands, for some reason. ‘It burns. It was worse in class, it toned down when I got out. I forgot about it on the way here, but it didn’t stop burning.’

After he said that, he watched the way Derek was tracing the lines of the tattoo, with a concentrated and worried look on his face. It made Stiles shiver. He realized he wasn’t wearing any pants, and that the wolf was kneeling beside him. If he’d turn around a bit, his crotch would be in Derek’s face. He blushed instantly, and Derek must have picked it up, because he jerked his hand away and stood up.

‘Put some shorts on. I’ll call Deaton.’

Stiles did as he was told. He went to the bathroom and washed his face again. He was still incredibly calm when he went downstairs. Derek had Deaton on the phone, on speaker, so he explained everything that happened at school. The vet was interested more in what Stiles was feeling in class, rather than the freaking glowing rune.  The more he explained, the more Derek’s face become more … cold. He looked angry and Stiles had no idea why.

‘Stiles, I don’t know what to tell you right now.’ Deaton said.

‘Uhm. Anything?’                      

‘I don’t know why this is happening, I never heard of it happening to anyone before. I have to do some research, hopefully my books will answer some question.’

‘Yeah. Cause, at this rate, I’ll be failing 5 classes.’, Stiles tried to joke, even though he realized it didn’t sound convincing.

‘Look, I’ll read everything that I can and I’ll come by your house after I close the clinic. Is that alright?’

‘Sure.’

‘Is Derek staying with you?’

‘Obviously’, the wolf answered before Stiles got to say anything.

‘Good. Make sure he gets rest and eats as much candy as possible.’

Derek made a face. ‘Seriously?’

‘Yes, it’s clear that this has something to do with rune magic. And I found that eating candy, chocolate and, you know, anything with high dosage of sugar is the best way to regain your energy after dealing with magic.’

Stiles grinned and Derek shook his head in exasperation. ‘That explains why he made me buy all the chocolate bars in the store.’

‘Did he, now?’, Deaton … teased. That was weird.

‘Well’, Stiles said, ‘in all fairness, he is exaggerating, doc. I was the one who _paid_ for only _half_ of their stock of a certain chocolate bar.’

Deaton laughed. ‘I’ll see you boys soon, take care.’ And he hung up.

Stiles stood on the couch and popped his feet on the coffee table. He started eating random things from the mountain of chocolate displayed in front of him, ignoring the (still) glowing tattoo.

Derek was still looking down at his phone, frowning. ‘That was weird.’

Stiles chuckled. ‘That was Deaton. What did you expect?’

‘How are you feeling?’ The wolf made his way to the couch and stood at the other side of it, with his legs crossed.

‘I’m good. I don’t feel sick anymore, I’m craving a lot of chocolate, I don’t feel that tired anymore, no headache, heartbeat steady, all’s good. I can still feel the rune, tho.’

Derek sighed and ran his hands over his face. ‘Lord of the rings.’

‘What?’, Stiles said around a mouthful of chocolate.

‘We should watch Lord of the rings.’

‘Hell yeah!’, the boy laughed.

Half an hour later, Stiles’ tummy was filled with chocolate, and he was sleeping with his head in Derek’s lap, while the wolf actually watched the movies.

₪

When Stiles woke up, he was on his back, with a pillow under his head, and one of his legs was thrown over the backrest of the couch. It was dark outside and Derek was standing in the corner, near the door, arms crossed and frowning.

‘What’s wrong?’, Stiles asked as he stood up. He looked down at his tattoo, it was still glowing. But the pain was manageable.

‘Michael’s outside.’

‘Excuse me?’, Stiles made his way across the room, standing in front of Derek.

The wolf was tense and he was whispering. ‘He’s been there for 45 minutes.’

‘Has he said or done anything?’

‘No. He’s standing on your porch, reading a book.’

Stiles moved back into the room, drinking some orange juice.

‘Wait. How do you know he’s there?’

Derek shrugged. ‘I heard his heart beat.’

‘Yes, but still.’ Stiles narrowed his eyes. ‘You’ve never seen Michael. How do you know it’s him?’

The wolf rolled his eyes. ‘I texted Erica, asking for a description.’

‘And how did that work?’, the boy was holding back a laugh.

‘When she answered me with just _good and fuckable_ , I asked Boyd.’

Stiles sighed. ‘Ok.’ He made his way to the bookstand, opening a jewelry box they kept in front of the books. He took out a small bag filled with mountain ash and put it in his pocket.

‘What are you doing?’ Derek asked.

‘I’m going to see what he wants.’

‘Stiles…’

‘No, you’re not stopping me. You’re coming with me, but you will let me do the talking.’

‘Are you sure?’

Stiles nodded and headed towards the door. 


	8. I don't believe a word you say

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles talks to Michael. Then, the pack talks to Deaton.

When they got on the porch, Michael closed the book he was reading and put it in his backpack.

Stiles didn’t say anything, he was still a bit sleepy and wanted the vampire to be the one to start this conversation. He leaned on the frame of the closed door and waited. Derek was a few feet besides him, tense and not taking his eyes off Michael.

After a few seconds of clenching and unclenching his right fist (Stiles knew he did this when he was nervous), Michael turned around to look at Derek.

‘Alpha Hale, I assume.’

Derek nodded.

The vampire faced Stiles. ‘I assume he’s gonna be here while we talk?’

‘Yup. Might as well. He would have eavesdropped on the conversation anyway.’

They were silent for a few minutes, and Stiles was close to exploding in his own skin. This was torture. Michael knew how much he hated silence, but Stiles could see he was thinking about what to say. Derek didn’t move his sight off of the vampire all the time.

Stiles’ rune was burning a bit harder. Not much, not even close to how bad it was in the classroom. But still, it was something he’d need to tell Deaton later. He was still wearing shorts, but Michael didn’t notice the tattoo glowing just yet. Hopefully, he wouldn’t.

The vampire finally took a deep breath and started talking, eyes on his shoes.

‘Firstly, I would like to thank you both and your whole pack for not… killing us on sight. It’s understandable, why you saw us as a threat, but you didn’t act on it without proof and I respect you for that. Secondly, I must tell you’ Michael looked up into Stiles’ eyes. ‘that I had no idea. I sensed that they were werewolves, but I didn’t know that they were a pack and that you were part of it.’

Stiles didn’t say anything. Neither did Derek.

‘And I know‘, Michael continued in a soothing voice. ‘That you think we’re here for something, that we’re here to do something to you, to hurt you and your pack. I assure you that that’s not the case. And I know what you’re thinking, Stiles. You’re thinking about how you’ll figure us out, how you’ll force our hand into telling you our plan, how you’ll protect your pack. And I know that you’re thinking the past month was a trick, part of some big plan.’ His voice broke on the last word, so he had to take a long breath.

Nobody said anything as Michael looked between Stiles and Derek. His eyes finally settled on the boy.

‘My brother and I will not cause you any trouble, I assure you. We just want a normal life here. You know, as normal as a vampire can manage.’ He bit his lower lip.

The boy kept looking in the vampire’s eyes. He nodded, but he didn’t believe a word of it. Something still felt very wrong about this whole situation.

Derek interrupted his train of thought.

‘Does Alex know you’re here?’

‘No’, Michael answered, eyes not leaving Stiles.

‘Ok.’ Stiles looked away to check on Derek for a second, before squinting his eyes at the vampire. ‘So, brothers. What does that mean, how does that even work?’

Michael took a step backwards and crossed his hands over his chest. ‘Really? That’s the most important question you’ve thought of, after all that?’

‘I’m curious.’

The vampire rolled his eyes. ‘I met Alex in the 20s. We became very good friends, and when I fell sick back then, when I told him I didn't want to die, he changed me. We’ve been brothers ever since.’

This piece of information shook Stiles up a bit, but he wasn’t going to let Michael know that. He then understood something, and by the way Derek lifted his eyebrow in his direction, the wolf probably figured out Stiles was up to something. The vampire didn’t, though.

‘So how old were you then?’, Stiles asked as casually as he could.

’22.’

‘Ok, so you were 22 when Alex made you a vampire, 90 some years ago. Then, why the hell are you posing as a highschooler?’

Michael looked confused and Derek lifted a side of his mouth the tiniest bit, clearly he figured out where Stiles was going with this.

‘Why are you in highschool? Yeah, you can pass for a 17 year old, but come on, why would you? Being in highschool sucks. There’s too much useless information and intense peer pressure. Why would you do it again? Why not go to college? Why not get a job?’

Michael seemed to be getting angrier with every word Stiles said.

‘You still don’t believe me, you’re still trying to find something wrong with this.’, the vampire said while cracking his fingers.

‘No, of course I don’t believe you. We can’t trust you, because, even if we assume Alex didn’t know there was a pack on this territory before coming here, he figured it out the first time I met him. And he didn’t say anything. If you guys really did _come in peace’,_ Stiles emphasized with air quotes, ‘why not tell us from the beginning, talk to us, make sure we don’t star World War 7?’

Michael snorted, clearly annoyed. ‘You’re overreacting, there were only 2 World Wars.’

‘And then, Derek here decided to come back to Beacon Hills. Hence the other 5 in our books.’ Stiles didn’t mean anything bad with saying this, it was just the pure truth, and the wolf knew it. Nobody regretted it, though. Even if they were living in Hell and everybody thought the new Hale pack was weak, an easy target, and kept attacking them; even though they had to battle a pack of Alpha werewolves and a fairy coven; even if they fought one another constantly and even if they’d get hurt over and over again, none of them regretted being part of this pack. Because with every challenge, they grew stronger. As people and as a pack. And Stiles and Derek had this conversation many times before, so the boy knew he wouldn’t annoy the wolf by saying this.

Stiles could see that Michael was getting angry, but the vampire was controlling himself.

‘Why do I get the feeling you’re being hypocritical right now?’

‘How am I hypocritical?’

‘Because even though you are a human in a werewolf pack, even though your friends are wolves, even though you’re constantly surrounded by fangs and claws, even though you trust these monsters completely… You go into this with the prejudice that all vampires are evil sons of bitches who always fuck things up and want to suck everyone dry.’

Stiles felt Derek’s hand on his shoulder and the touch calmed him, but he didn’t even turn to look at his Alpha. He kept his eyes on Michael.

‘Prove me wrong, then. Stay the fuck away from me and away from my pack and _behave_. If we find out you hurt anybody in this town, we won’t hesitate in hunting you down and taking your hearts for our trophy room. Behave and we won’t hurt you.’

Michael put his hands into his pockets and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

‘Why is your rune glowing?’

Derek squeezed his shoulder, code for _be careful what you say_ , and took his arm away. Stiles shrugged.

‘I think I’m having an allergic reaction to the paint.’

The vampire chuckled, and spoke in a smug voice. ‘So that’s why it’s glowing in one of Gaia’s colors?’

Stiles didn’t answer, even though he was dying to ask Michael about it. He was sure he knew what was going on, there was even a possibility he was doing it! But he couldn’t ask.

The vampire took another step backwards and looked at Derek for a few seconds. Stiles knew that look, he was checking him out and the boy had a quick picture of their bodies pressed together. And wow, that really wasn’t helping with his self esteem, because having fantasies with werewolves AND vampires? And not even being in them? So not ok.

‘I did like you, Stiles. I still do.’ The vampire said with conviction.

The boy unintentionally traced his tongue over his lower lip. ‘You know I liked you. I don’t believe a word you say, though. But that doesn’t matter anymore.’

‘I hoped…’ Michael was speaking in a low voice. ‘I wanted to convince you I’m a good guy. And I hoped we could pick up where we left off.’

‘Yeah, no, not gonna happen, sorry. I don’t think I can get past the part where I’ll be constantly afraid you’d want to kill me, haha.’, Stiles said nervously.

Michael looked mad, eyes dark and eyebrows frowning.

‘I’d never do that to you. I… I am in full control, I’m not the one who has to fight not killing everything that moves on every full moon.’ He looked at Derek with so much hate in his eyes. The wolf's eyes flashed red for half a second, but then he looked at Stiles and calmed down.

‘Leave.’ Stiles said in a calm voice, even though he was far from it. Last time someone talked like that about his pack, they ended up dead in a ditch.

Michael started backing away, slowly, eyes still on Stiles. ‘But you know what the worst part of all of this is? That the reason you can’t trust me is because you think so low of yourself, you can’t get your head around the fact that someone would actually want to be with you without ulterior motives.’

Stiles smiled. ‘I’m so glad you figured me out.’, he mocked. ‘Now leave.’

After he was no longer in viewing range, Derek put a hand on Stiles neck and squeezed it gently.

‘Are you ok?’

‘Yeah. But I need chocolate.’ The pain from the tattoo kept increasing with every minute Michael was there. ‘And we really need Deaton to give us some answers, because this is not normal, even by our standards.’

Derek nodded and guided Stiles in the house.

₪

When Deaton arrived at the Stilinski house, the whole pack was there, in the living room, drinking coffee and eating chocolate. Derek was the one to let the doctor in, and guided him to a free chair, facing the couch on which Stiles was sitting. He was still wearing shorts, but his legs were up, so the vet couldn’t see the tattoo.

‘How are you feeling, Stiles?’

‘I’m good, better now. I felt a bit… tired after Michael left. We talked for 10 minutes or so. Uhm.’ Stiles was scratching the back of his neck. He was anxious, but he didn’t know why. ‘The burn kept increasing in intensity while he was here. After he left, I drank a hot chocolate and ate three Reese’s, took a 30 minutes nap and I woke up fine.’

Deaton nodded.

‘It’s still glowing, though.’ All the pack members jumped at that, because Stiles made sure none of them saw it. He didn’t want to worry them before Deaton got a chance to explain and… Stiles noticed how weird Derek was around him, it confused the hell out of him and made him really uneasy. And he was an Alpha, he was more in control of his emotions than his betas. Who knows how they’d react to it? But now, Deaton needed to know.

‘May I see it?’ the vet asked in a comforting voice.

Stiles stood up and turned around. Scott let out a gasp.

‘Was it worse than this?’, Deaton asked.

‘A lot worse.’, it was Derek who spoke. Scott let out a gasp again.

Stiles turned around and looked at the rune. ‘It doesn’t even hurt anymore, to be honest. I’m guessing it’ll… turn off completely in 2-3 hours.’ He sat back down on the couch and looked hopefully at the vet.

‘So, doc. Found anything?’

Deaton looked at Derek, who was making his way to stand near Stiles, on the couch. ‘Yes, I have. But you’re not going to like it.’

Stiles actually laughed at that. ‘Like it matters if we like it or not.’

‘Oh no. Let me clarify. _You_ are not going to like it. Your pack will love it.’

‘Huh?’

‘I believe that the glow and the pain is a reaction your … body is having to the vampires.’

‘Yeah, I kinda figured that one out. Cause, you know, it only happens when they’re around. But that doesn’t explain anything, and it doesn’t explain why it started now.’

Deaton smiled. ‘I’d like to remind you, Stiles, that we are talking about rune magic here. You know the principle, you’ve read the books, you know how rune magic works.’

The doc seemed to be waiting for confirmation, so Stiles nodded.

‘Explain it to your pack. ’

‘As simplified as possible’, Derek added.

‘Uhm. A rune cannot work without magic, without power. Runes take their power from the one who makes them. The… uhm… veterinarians’ Stiles smiled at the doctor, this was an inside joke, nobody knew what he really was, the jerk wouldn’t tell. ‘They learn to take power form … different things. Either other people, or magic objects or, the most powerful ones usually take their power from the elements around them. Water, fire, nature.’

‘Correct.’ Deaton nodded. ‘And as you know, I think Stiles has magic.’

Nobody said anything for a few seconds, and Stiles’ rune gave a burst of pain. ‘So you think I’m doing this.’

‘Yes.’

Stiles laughed. ‘Honestly, doc, we all know I tend to get suicidal in certain life or death situations, but this isn’t one. You think I’d knowingly make myself sick?’

‘Not knowingly.’

Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘Explain.’, Derek said.

The doctor kept his eyes on Stiles, ignoring the weird looks the pack was giving him. ‘You don’t believe you have magic. And you know the most important component one has is the power of will. You understood that last year, at the rave. But now, you don’t think you’re powerful enough to control runes. What is happening to you now is a defense mechanism. Gone wrong. The rune is made for protection against vampires, and of course you are afraid of them. Your magic is trying to protect you, but because you don’t believe in it, it makes you sick in the presence of vampires. Why it’s happening only now, after you broke up with Michael, I don’t know.  ’

‘Sorry, doc, but that’s bullshit. If I had magic, I would’ve been able to do something about it. With it. And don’t get me wrong, I want it to be true. I want to have magic, we need magic. But… I don’t have it.’

‘Stiles.’ Derek spoke near to him, in a comforting voice. ‘He’s the second person today to tell you that you think too low of yourself.’

‘And he’s right.’, Lydia added.

‘It’s not that.’ Stiles whined. ‘It’s the fact that I have tried, over and over and over and over again and it didn’t work. I am not capable of doing magic. Runes or spells or voodoo or anything. Believe me, I tried it all. It’s not happening.’

‘Then, why do you think this is happening to you?’, Lydia said in an annoyed voice.

‘I’m human? You are too, but you’re immune. Maybe… something went wrong or …’

Deaton stood up, silencing them all. ‘Let’s have an experiment. The last one. I promise that if this doesn’t work, I’ll never mention it again, and I’ll find a way to… fix your rune.’

Stiles groaned. And Derek growled at him.

‘Fine!’


	9. I'm good, I'm fine, really.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magic experiments and yearly feelings.

Stiles was in the middle of the back yard, waiting for Deaton to come back from his car. ‘I just need to grab something’, he said. All his pack was near the house, watching him closely.

‘I don’t understand why I have to be shirtless, it’s cold.’, Stiles whined, rubbing his hands together.

The girls shared a look, but it was Lydia that spoke. ‘So that we can see the goods and not let you wear layers upon layers of plaid ever again?’

Stiles was unimpressed. Scott and Isaac smirked.

‘I mean, you have abs, for the love of god!’ Erica said, frantically moving her hands in the boy’s general direction. ‘Who knew you had abs?’

‘Everybody?’ Isaac grinned. ‘Oh, but that’s right, you don’t get to see everybody naked in the boys’ locker room after practice.’

Derek was holding back a laugh. So was Boyd.

‘You know, Isaac’, Stiles said. ‘I think we’ve been painting a misleading picture of what actually goes on in the boys’ locker room. The girls should know, it’s not just naked sweaty guys walking around, not really. Honestly, most of the time, everybody’s busy drooling over Danny’s ass.’

‘That’s true’, Isaac said.

‘Yeah, totally.’, Jackson chipped in.

‘Noooo’, Danny whined.

‘Back in my day, we all drooled over the coach.’, Derek shrugged.

Everybody stilled and stared at their Alpha. Of course, it was Stiles that spoke, always the voice of reason.

‘Some of us are shocked because we didn’t know you played lacrosse. Others are shocked because you incorporated yourself in a group of people that drooled over other men. Me, personally, I just want to know who your coach was.’

‘Finstock.’, Derek said like it was obvious.

‘Why would anybody drool over Finstock?’, Erica asked with a scared voice.

Derek shrugged. ‘He used to be pretty hot 7 years ago. Before he broke up with his wife.’

‘Jesus, you’re not joking’, Stiles managed to whisper before Deaton came back.

‘Ok, Stiles, I want you to concentrate.’ He stood before the boy, back towards the pack. ‘I want you to believe in yourself, believe that you have magic. ‘

‘Why am I shirtless?’

Deaton rolled his eyes. ‘Focus, Stiles. Close your eyes and focus on what I am telling you.’

He did as he was told. The doctor spoke in a soothing voice; it had a hypnotizing effect on Stiles, he felt sleepy. It was easy for him to imagine what the vet was saying.

‘I need you to imagine the forest. Imagine yourself driving to the Hale house and stopping your jeep in front of it. You’re getting out of the car and you take a deep breath, because the air is so pure and you can smell the trees and the grass and the flowers. You make your way around the back of the house and walk on the path that Lydia put signs on. You’re surrounded by tall trees and you can feel a small breeze on the back of your neck. You get to the lake, but you stop 50 feet away from the shore. Because you see Derek, lying on the ground, with Decaulion kneeling on him, ready to claw his throat. Stiles, you need to save him. Stiles, save Derek. Stiles, save Derek now!’

Stiles screamed like he never had before. He screamed until he was out of air. When he managed to stop, he opened his eyes. Deaton was looking at him, frowning. Stiles angled his head so he could look behind the doctor, at Derek. He didn’t get to ask if he was ok, because the wolf nodded when they made eye contact.

‘Nothing happened.’ Stiles told Deaton.

‘No. Nothing happened.’

‘We’re good now? Are you convinced?’

‘How are you feeling?’

‘Cold.’

The doctor nodded. ‘I’m going to make you a … tea. To help you with your rune problem. If you drink it before each of the classes you share with the vampires, you should be ok. No more pain, but it will still glow. You can pick it up tomorrow.’

₪

The pack left soon after that and Stiles was furious. He always felt like this after discussing his magic with Deaton. Or rather, lack of it.

And it pissed Stiles off. Because he wanted it to be true. He wanted it so badly. He needed it. Stiles needed to be able to do more, not just for his sake, but for his pack! They were always in danger, and they will always be. Something will always come up to Beacon Hills in pursuit of the Hale pack.

And Stiles will always feel useless. Well, maybe not useless, there was nobody around who was as good and as fast as him at researching. And the pack made a habit of coming to him for moral support. And he could fight, a decent amount.

Ok, Stiles did realize he wasn’t useless and the pack made sure to say as much every once in a while. But still, if there was a possibility he’d be stronger, he’d take it.

And fuck. Magic? That would be amazing. And it would help them so much. They’d be able to protect themselves better, not rely just on the werewolves’ ability to heal and on the humans’ ability to run. They could…

They could do so much more. But it doesn’t matter, because Stiles didn’t have magic.

And that frustrated him beyond belief. It frustrated him to the point of depression.

₪

Stiles felt better and he managed to regain his energy during the weekend. He wasn’t pissed at himself anymore, either. There wasn’t anything he could do. So, he didn’t have magic. Big deal. He didn’t have magic back when he killed 2 alphas. He survived this far and he’ll keep managing being a human in a doggy dog wolf world.

However, this whole being human business did raise a couple of issues. The biggest one of them seemed to be the ability to feel, at the moment.

It was Sunday evening, pretty late actually, Stiles had no idea when time passed, it was already 1am. But he did know what will happen tomorrow: the Sheriff will leave early in the morning to work, he’d pull a double shift and when he’d eventually get home, he’d pass out asleep. Stiles would wake up early, bake a batch of chocolate chip cupcakes, drive to the cemetery, tell his mother all that had happened during the last year. Then, he’d spend the next hours reading from her favorite book, The Little Prince. When the muffins are gone and his heart can’t take it anymore, Stiles will drive himself back home, take a long shower and go to bed. He’d wake up on Tuesday and act like nothing had happened.

Of course, this meant he won’t be on school on Monday. Which was a good thing, because he won’t have to go to English class. But that also meant he’d have to skip the pack meeting on Monday evening. It might not be the best time to do so, what with vampires and glowing runes roaming around, but… it’s just one meeting. Derek wouldn’t mind so much, probably. But Stiles isn’t going to tell him why he’s skipping, because he knows that the wolf will feel bad for him. And he doesn’t want that. Plus, talking about cemeteries always reminds you about the people you lost, and Derek has a lot of those. He doesn’t need any reminders.

So, on 1am on a Sunday night, Stiles and Derek were texting.

 **Stiles:** I’m not coming to the meet up tomorrow. Sorry.                            

**Derek:** _Is something wrong?_

**Stiles:** No. I just can’t make it.

**Derek:** _Ok. We were just going to train, you are not missing out._

**Stiles:** Ok, good. Thanks.

**Derek:** _You’re sure there isn’t anything wrong?_

**Stiles:** No, nothing wrong. Well, nothing more than vampires and glowing runes.

**Derek:** _That’s more of a reason for you to come and train with us. Is that why you won’t come?_

**Stiles:** No, I want to train with you, you know that. But I can’t tomorrow.

**Derek:** _Why?_

**Stiles:** I have stuff to do.

**Derek:** _Stuff. You always manage to not have ‘stuff’ to do when we’re supposed to meet._

**Stiles:** Yeah, well, I’m sorry. I really am, but there are important stuff that can’t be bypassed.

**Derek:** _I’m not mad. I just don’t understand why you won’t give me a reason._

**Stiles:** Please. Just let it go, ok? I’m fine, there’s nothing wrong, I’m not gonna do anything bad.

**Derek:** _Are you sure about that?_

**Stiles:** Positive. Please just trust me and drop it.

**Derek:** _Of course I trust you. I just want to help if there’s anything wrong._

**Stiles:** Thanks. You can’t help.

**Derek:** _Ok. What are you doing up, anyway?_

**Stiles:** I lost track of time. You?

**Derek:** _I can’t sleep and leave a good book unfinished._

**Stiles:** What are you reading now?

**Derek:** _Space Odyssey._

**Stiles:** Dork! And I can’t believe you haven’t read it till now.

**Derek:** _It may be the 5 th time I’m reading it._

**Stiles:** Wow, ok. Space dork!

**Derek:** _Stop it!_

**Stiles:** Yes, master!

**Derek:** _Stop that too._

**Derek:** _You’re not being funny._

**Stiles:** Ouch, my feelings. But ok, I’m backing off. I’ll let you to your reading.

**Derek:** _You should sleep._

**Stiles:** Yeah, I will. Good night.

**Derek:** _You too._

₪

Stiles did as planned. As he did these past years.

He missed her. And it hurt more than anything evil will.

₪

Isaac was the last one to get to the pack meeting. Derek should be upset, because the beta lives here! But he was out buying groceries, so he’s not going to say anything. He wouldn’t even have gotten the chance, because as soon as Isaac got in the living room, he did a 360° scan on the room, eyes landing on Derek.

‘Is Stiles sick?’, he asked, concerned.

‘Not that I know of. Why would he be sick?’ Derek was confused.

The beta pouted. ‘He’s not here. And he wasn’t at school either. He skips school, but he never misses meetings.’

Derek shrugged. ‘He said he had some important stuff to do.’

‘Stiles always has important stuff to do today.’ Lydia interrupted, visibly annoyed.

Isaac turned to her. ‘What?’

The girl rolled her eyes and explained in a bitter tone. ‘Look, I don’t know why, but for the past years, Stiles always skipps school today. I don’t know why I remember, it’s just one of those useless things that got stuck in my head. The first time he did it, back in middle school, I remember one of the teachers having this big rant about how just because he was the Sheriff’s kid, he shouldn’t get a free pass. That there wasn’t anything really wrong with him, he was just using his privileges to stay home for a day. It pissed me off, but it was all forgotten by the next day, so nobody asked. I remembered the date because it was my grandmother’s birthday. The next year, it happened again. And the next, and the next. And every time I ask, he just lies and says he was feeling ill.’

‘You knew who Stiles was in middle school.’, Jackson said in an unbelieving tone. Danny gave him a smack on the back of his head.

‘Well, something’s definitely wrong. Maybe he is sick? Maybe we should go check on him.’ Isaac turned to Derek, concern in his eyes.

Once again, Derek didn’t get a chance to respond, because Scott said, in a voice too high for his liking, a simple and shocked ‘Oh my god!’. The whole pack turned toward him, and realized he remembered something important. They were used to Scott doing things like this, so nobody said anything as the beta gathered his thoughts.

‘Fuck. Is today October 3rd?’

Derek nodded.

Scott sighed. ‘He’s fine, Stiles is fine. He’s not sick. We just need to leave him alone.’

‘No.’, Isaac said in a wounded voice. ‘Something’s not right.’

Scott smiled at the other beta. He took a deep breath and looked down, speaking in a soft voice. ‘No, Stiles is probably not fine now, but he will be tomorrow. I’m not sure I should tell you, but you need to understand that each October 3rd Stiles will spend the day alone and each July 7th he will spend the day with his dad.’

‘Oh no you don’t, McCall!’, Lydia sounded pissed. ‘You don’t get to say stuff like that and not explain yourself. Spill.’

‘It’s not my…’

‘Spill!’, Jackson and Isaac said at the same time.

Derek knew that he should interfere, stop Scott from saying anything that Stiles wouldn’t want everybody to know. But he knew that keeping secrets will not help the boy, he was part of the pack, and that means they’ll help each other in any situation. Plus, he was curious why Stiles didn’t tell him.

‘You know we won’t… make fun of him or anything.’ Derek wasn’t at all surprised that Danny would be the one to say this. ‘We’re just concerned’, the boy continued. ‘And curios, to be honest.’

Scott sighed and looked down at his shoes. ‘If he finds out and kills me, I’m going to haunt you all.’, he muttered. With a more convinced voice, the beta continued. ‘July 7th is his mother’s birthday. He usually spends whatever free time he has with his father, even if it means just hanging out with him at the station or in the cruiser. That is a good day. Today… not so much. She died today. And Stiles has a… ritual.’

‘What ritual?’, Jackson raised an eyebrow.

Scott smiled. ‘You really don’t deserve to know that. None of us do. That’s between the two of them. But I know that Stiles will always spend October 3rd alone, with her. I can’t believe I forgot about it.’

Derek could feel the pity rolling out of everybody and it wasn’t helping with his own. He quickly went through the texts they sent last night, reinterpreting them with this new bit of information. He realized he was a jerk and that he pushed it too far. Derek will apologize, but now was not the time. After they’d train, he’d go over to Stiles’ house. He won’t talk to him, if that’s what the boy wants, he’ll just make sure he’s alive and breathing and not having a complete mental breakdown.

‘How did she die?’, Isaac asked.

‘He never talks about it.’, Lydia says in a low voice. ‘He’d talk about anything, but never about this.’

‘None of us knows what happened.’ Danny completed.

‘Huh’, Peter huffed and it was the first time in this conversation when he made his presence known. Derek would have expected him to have a lot of opinions. His uncle was fascinated by the boy, for reasons Derek doesn’t understand. But all that he said in the matter was ‘I think we found his Achilles heel.’

Scott looked in Peter’s eye, his need to protect Stiles written all over his face. ‘Slowly.’, he said with conviction. ‘Ms. S died slowly. In the hospital. With Stiles by her side.’ The beta turned to look at Isaac and spoke to him in a softer voice. ‘It was cancer, that’s all I know. He never told me more, nobody ever did. My mom still won’t tell me, because it’s not my business, apparently.’

There was silence for a bit, while Derek remembered he was the Alpha and he should have the final word, at least in Stiles’ absence.  ‘Look, this really isn’t our business. And while I’m as glad as you are that we know what happened, that doesn’t mean we had the right to.’

He really wished Stiles would have told him. They have been getting closer and closer during the last months and Derek thought of him as a very good friend, Alpha business aside. And if there’s anyone who would understand, it was Derek. He knew Stiles trusted him, but he didn’t understand why he didn’t trust him with this information. Maybe he could have helped him.

Peter spoke again, his voice hoarse. ‘Some people are lucky not to have their tragedies written on their faces. We should all respect that.’

Derek was managing not thinking about his own dead family. Peter changed that. He didn’t have time for this now.  ‘Come on, let’s train.’, he silenced his pack and headed out.

₪

Stiles couldn’t sleep. It was the first time since his mother died that he couldn’t sleep when he came back from the cemetery.

The day had passed the same way as always. A lot of talking to a tombstone, a lot of crying, a lot of cupcake eating, a lot of reading. He got back home at about 10pm.

He missed his mom, everyday. But things have gotten a bit worse since Scott was bit. A boy always calls for his mom when he’s scared, right? Even though his dad had a gun, Stiles would always call for her, even when he was little and had a nightmare. And yes, now he could call for his dad or for one of his clawed friends. But he wanted her, of course he did. He’d do anything to get her back. But, unfortunately, he knew there wasn’t anything he could do.

Stiles was feeling very low and he needed to sleep, in order to function normally tomorrow, at school. He couldn’t, though, and the boy learned a long time ago that none of the normal tricks could get him to bed. So, he thought about tiring himself. Even though it was past midnight, his father still wasn’t home. He took advantage of the situation, opening up his computer and blasting some Chemical Brothers as loud as possible.

He wasn’t dancing, not really. He was just… moving. As much as possible, as fast as possible. Maybe it was on the music’s rhythm. Stiles just wanted to break a sweat, get tired and sleep.

He had been listening to about 4 songs when Galvanize started. That was his favorite. Stiles turned around completely, facing his open window. He stopped moving because Derek was standing on his roof, crouching down, head almost in his room. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly opened.

‘Shit. Uhm.’ Stiles was blushing everywhere and he knew it. ‘I couldn’t sleep so I just thought I’d bounce around a bit, so I’d pass out from physical exhaustion, and since I can’t go out for a run at midnight, I just… yeah....’

 Derek swallowed. ‘You have the weirdest taste in music.’

Stiles raised an eyebrow at that, but didn’t say anything more.

‘I was… I was just checking if you’re alright, didn’t want to wake you up with a phone call. I’m gonna… go now.’

‘Do you wanna go out?’ Stiles almost screamed and took a step towards the wolf, even though he didn’t realize he was doing it.

‘What?’

‘There’s this bar two streets down. It’s alright, not incredibly fancy, but they have comfy chairs and the music is decent enough. But man, they have the best lemonade in the world. It’s the perfect combination of lemons, sugar and mint. It’s like drugs.’

Derek smiled. ‘You want me to take you to a bar in the middle of a school night, so you can get a lemonade?’

‘They don’t serve just lemonade’, the boy pouted. ‘You can have a beer or something.’

The wolf smiled some more. ‘You might want to put a shirt on before you come down.’ The next second, Derek was on the lawn and Stiles realized he, indeed, wasn’t wearing a shirt.

₪

They managed to get two seats at the bar. Stiles got a lemonade and Derek got a beer. They were silent for a few minutes, except the little moans the boy was making from time to time while drinking his lemonade.

They finished their drinks quickly, and Stiles started to get up, but Derek ordered another round. ‘How are you feeling?’, the wolf asked in a soft voice.

‘Uhm… I’m good?’

‘That sounded like a question.’

‘No, no, it was an answer. Definitely an answer. I’m good, I’m fine, really. Why?’

Derek frowned and blushed a bit. He shrugged and took a sip of his beer before looking right into Stiles’ eyes. ‘We were all worried, so… Scott told us.’

Stiles looked up, thinking. ‘I assume you mean he told you about what I did today.’

‘Don’t be mad at him. We all… we wanted to know. It’s the only thing you never talk about, even though you know that most of us will fully understand. We just… we want to help, you know that. And I know that there isn’t much we can do. I know that, but … you should let us try.’

The boy was silent for a few minutes. Stiles thought he would be mad, he thought he’d feel betrayed by Scott, he knew how much this meant to him. But… he felt calm.

‘I’m not mad’, he said without looking at Derek. ‘I feel like I should be, but I’m not. I’m just glad I wasn’t the one who told you, to be honest.’

‘You need to understand that you can talk to us about anything.’ The wolf sounded exasperated. Stiles understood his logic, he really did. But it’s not like Derek ever spoke about the fire or his family before it.

‘I don’t need to talk about _this_.’, Stiles said. ‘I just needed to be alone today. Just me and her.’

Derek bumped their shoulders together. ‘So that’s why I’m here right now?’

Stiles laughed, a little bitter. ‘I don’t really know why you’re here. But it’s a good thing that you are, because if you weren’t, I would have ended up reading The Little Prince for the 3rd time today.’

The wolf frowned. ‘It’s a good book….’

‘Oh yeah, it is. It was her favorite. I read it for her, at the cemetery. Twice. I also made chocolate cupcakes, cause they were her favorite. I also cried for about 8 hours straight, so reading the book again wouldn’t have been a good thing.’

Derek put a hand between his shoulder blades.

‘I do it every year, you know.’ Stiles continued. ‘Skip school, bake cupcakes, drive up there, talk to her about what happened the last 12 months. And then, I just read. Until I can’t anymore.’

Derek sighed and ordered two shots of tequila. Thankfully, the girl behind the bar didn’t ask for Stiles’ ID. She did wink at the wolf, though. He ignored it, but Stiles was giggling.

Stiles liked tequila. Yes, yes he did like it, quite a bit. He raised an eyebrow when Derek handed him the glass, but he didn’t say anything. He drank his shot and put the glass on the counter with a thud.

Derek licked his lips. ‘On the day of the fire, Laura and I used to run. We’d drive to the closest piece of woods we could find and just run. All day. I think I’ll keep doing that. I think I’ll also do it on the day she… stopped returning my phone calls.’

Stiles nodded. ‘Rituals help.’

‘I’m not sure they do. But they do make us think they help.’

The boy narrowed his eyes. ‘Since when do you get philosophical?’

Derek rolled his eyes. ‘It’s 1am, we’re in a bar, I’m tired and my brain to mouth filter isn’t working.’

‘Understandable. Let’s go home.’

They didn’t talk when they walked back to the house. They got there at the same time as the Sheriff was parking his cruiser. He looked between the two boys and when his eyes finally settled on Stiles, he spoke with caution.

‘This is new.’

Stiles nodded. ‘I’m growing my hair back.’

The Sheriff shrugged and went into the house without saying anything. After he closed the door, he muttered ‘it’s about time’, but Derek was the only one who heard it.

Stiles hugged Derek goodbye and thanked him. He got to bed and tried not to think about how fast his heart was beating at that time.


	10. Something's wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a shift in the atmosphere. Aka, the one where things go to hell. [Pst! Slight cliffhanger :)]

The next day at school, nobody said anything to Stiles about the previous day. He was grateful for that. Scott gave him a big, long hug, but that was normal behavior. The boy was incredibly bored when he got home, but, thankfully, Derek was waiting for him.

‘Ugh’, Stiles moaned, throwing his backpack next to Derek, on the bed. ‘Please tell me this is one of your _let’s play video games till we feel retarded_ visits, not one of your _this is it, the apocalypse_ ones’.

‘Video games, yes. Also, you’re gonna cook me dinner.’

‘Am I now?’ Stiles raised an eyebrow and refrained himself from laughing.

The wolf grinned and nodded.

‘Any reason why I’m your bitch today?’

‘You’re not my bitch’, Derek seemed disgusted. ‘But you’re going to be nice to me because I had a big ass fight with Peter cause he's stupid and I got very very very angry and you don’t like it when I’m angry and I need comfort food.’

Stiles smiled. ‘Big bad wolf looks like a 12 year old right now, asking for sweets before dinner.’

Derek chuckled. ‘Do you have sweets?’

‘No sweets before dinner!’ Stiles laughed his way to the kitchen and started to cook.

₪

They took their food to the living room, lounging on the sofa and watching some random documentary about planes on tv. They were silent, but Stiles didn’t mind it, not with Derek. Yes, he loved when they talked, but he was the only person, besides his Dad, with whom Stiles didn’t feel twitchy when they weren’t talking. It was weird and unnatural, the boy realized this, but he decided it wasn’t a big deal. And, like most things concerning Derek these days, Stiles just adopted his ‘ _meh, I don’t even know, but I’m gonna go with it cause it feels ok’_ attitude. It always worked.

They were almost done with their food when Stiles realized something was wrong. He was out of breath, his heartbeat seemed elevated and really chaotic. His rune was hurting a bit, but it felt like a muscle being sore, not the burning sensation he was used to. His throat was dry and before he could say something, he felt his entire body shiver. Not because he was cold, but because… it felt like a thousand small thunders formed under his skin and exploded at the same time. Everything hurt and it felt like someone was squeezing his heart. For about 3 seconds, then it stopped.

He turned to Derek the same moment the wolf did, his eyes flashing red.

‘Something’s wrong.’, Stiles said. ‘Did you feel that?’

‘Magic. A lot of it. You… felt it?’

The boy nodded. ‘We need to regroup. At your apartment. Text the pack. Now.’

Stiles hurried to his room and grabbed his backpack. Derek was waiting outside.

‘It’s worse here, Stiles. We all feel it. It’s everywhere, the whole town.’

‘Shit.’

They got to Derek’s apartment the same time as Lydia. The rest of the pack was already there, pacing and looking exactly the way pups do when there are fireworks outside.

‘What the hell is happening?’, Erica roared.

‘We have no idea.’, Derek tried to keep him voice calm, in order to make his pack relax.

‘Peter, I’ll look through your laptop, you get all the books you think would help.’ Stiles tried to sound determined, but it just came out panicked. ‘I need you guys to tell me exactly what happened. What you felt.’

Nobody said anything; they were looking at him like he was insane. And Stiles got it, he understood. They weren’t used to take orders from anyone except Derek, especially the weird human with the glowing rune. But they did not have time for this.

‘Scott, tell me what happened in the 5 minutes before Derek texted you.’

‘Uhm. Me and Isaac were playing some lacrosse in my back yard. At one point, I felt like someone was tickling the back of the neck. For a few seconds it spread through my whole body, then it stopped. Except my hands, they still feel a bit tickly. Even now. It’s constantly and it sucks.’

‘It didn’t hurt? No chest pain, increased heart beat, dry throat, anything?’

‘No… Is that what happened to you?’

Stiles sighed. ‘That goes for all of you?’

The wolves nodded. ‘Lydia, what about you?’

‘I didn’t feel anything, not then, not now. I feel completely normal.’

‘Danny?’

‘I didn’t feel anything either.’

‘So the humans are oblivious. That’s good.’

Derek frowned. ‘Then why do you feel anything?’

Stiles bit his lip and lifted up his jeans. ‘I think I’m fucking broken.’ His rune was glowing red.

Everybody froze at the sight, their eyes wide, staring at Stiles’ tattoo. It was Peter who spoke, slowly.

‘Does it hurt?’

‘Uhm… Before, when it was blue, it was burning. Now, I feel like the muscle is sore.’

Stiles look up to Derek. ‘Maybe someone should check up on Alex and Michael.’

The wolf nodded. ‘Stiles, call Deaton, see if he knows something. Then, research. Lydia, Danny, Peter, help him out. Everybody else, with me. We’re checking out their house.’

Peter muttered something that sounded an awful lot like ‘Why am I always the one who babysits the humans?’, but Stiles ignored it. Instead, he grabbed Scott’s arm, getting his attention. ‘When you get close, be careful. And call me. One of you, call me, I’ll stand on the phone till you’re safe.’

Even though they did just that, the wolves didn’t find anything. Alex and Michael were on the couch, watching tv. They weren’t even speaking. But Derek quickly made a rotation, to keep an eye on the house.

Stiles didn’t have any luck either. Granted, they didn’t know that much, just that it was magic and that it was probably vampires that were doing it. They couldn’t figure out what was happening, they needed more data for proper research.  And of course, Deaton wasn’t answering his phone.

So, by the time the sun set, they all went home, in pairs. Derek insisted none of them spend the night alone. Stiles and Scott went to the latter’s house, ate dinner, played a few hours of video games and went to bed early, no magic disturbing them. Even though Stiles’ tattoo was still glowing and Scott’s hands were still tingling.

₪

Nothing happened. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The next day at school, both Alex and Michael were acting completely normal. And so was the rest of the world.

Stiles’ rune was still glowing. The wolves’ hands were still tingling.

₪

After school, Scott was still on babysitting duty, so they both went to Stiles' house. They’ve only been there for an hour when Stiles’ phone rang. It was Isaac, he was worried because Derek didn’t come home last night. Apparently, he went out for a run, wanting to talk about something with Stiles. But he didn’t get to Scott’s house, nor did he return home till now.

‘Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck’, Stiles groaned. ‘We’ll be there as fast as I can drive. Call the rest’.

After he hung up, Stiles took a deep breath and reached for his car keys. Scott beat him to it.

‘Dude, I’m not letting you drive.’

‘Why not?’, and ok, maybe Stiles was willing to accept that his voice was a bit too squickly.

‘Because you’re heart is beating 3 times faster and your fear and anxiousness are chocking me.’

Stiles rolled his eyes, but he handed Scott his keys.

When they got to Derek’s apartment, everybody was there. Stiles could see they were on edge. Boyd and Erica were curled together, as were Lydia and Jackson. Peter was pacing in the other part of the room as the teenagers, and Danny and Isaac were standing very close on the floor.

‘Wait. Why isn’t anybody tracking Alex and Michael?’, Stiles screamed as he realized that the WHOLE pack was there.

‘We can’t .’, Boyd answered. ‘We can’t smell anything off them anymore, and we can’t hear their heartbeats. Jackson and I tried to trail them after school, but we lost them.’

‘And they’re not at their house’, Erica completed. ‘I checked.’

‘Derek isn't answering. Phone or... howls. And we couldn’t find him by scent. Peter and I tried before we called.’, Isaac said.

Stiles whimpered. Audibly. Shit. He didn’t manage to calm down all the drive here. His heartbeat is still frantic, he can feel a cold sweat on the back of his neck and his rune is still bugging him. And he still doesn’t know anything, none of them know what is happening. How are they supposed to find Derek if…

Stiles got an idea.

‘Was he wearing his bracelet?’

Erica snorted. ‘Derek doesn’t wear jewelry.’

Stiles ignored her, he was looking at Peter and Isaac. The boy shrugged, but the older man pursed his lips.

‘The one you gave him?’

‘Yeah.’ Stiles really didn’t care about the weird looks he was getting from the rest of the pack.

Peter nodded. ‘He almost never takes it off. And if he does, he puts it in his pocket.’

‘Well thank fuck for that!’ Stiles made his way to the laptop that was left on one of the coffee tables. He thought it was Isaac’s, but it didn’t matter. Nor did the looks everyone was giving him.

He opened the laptop and started working. Erica came and sat down next to him, but she was silent for a few minutes. When she started asking him questions, Stiles answered, but only on instinct. The pack was used to this behavior, though, it was his usual research mode. He wasn’t really thinking about the answers and his heart was still beating like crazy.

‘Stiles, you gave Derek a bracelet?’

‘Yeah.’

‘What is it like?’

‘Silver. Simple. Flat. Thin. Triskele engraved in the center.’

‘When did you give it to him?’

‘His birthday.’

Erica sighed. ‘When was his birthday?’

‘Two months ago.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us?’

‘He shared a birthday with his mom. Not a happy day.’

‘Shit’.

Erica was silent for a few minutes when Peter spoke.

‘Stiles, why is the bracelet relevant?’

‘GPS tracker.’

‘You put a GPS in the bracelet you gave Derek.’

Stiles finished setting up the program, so he looked up. Everyone was looking at him like he was insane. ‘Yes, yes I did. And now, it’s going to take about an hour for this program to track him down. I restricted the area to a 100 miles radius around Beacon Hills. Hopefully, they didn’t go that far.’

Peter was blinking a bit fast, staring down Stiles. He swallowed and narrowed his eyes. ‘Is Derek the only with a secret GPS on him?’

The boy rolled his eyes. ‘Of course not.’

‘What?’ Isaac and Scott screamed at the same time. Peter just raised an eyebrow.

‘Oh my god!’ Lydia was staring at the ring Stiles gave her a few months ago. She liked it a lot, she told him she’d never take it off. Erica made a similar gesture with her hand, because the pack had two queens, he couldn’t spoil one without the other, right? That’s what he always told them.

Stiles smiled. ‘Yeah, your rings. And Isaac’s keys, Danny’s phone, Boyd and Scott’s wallets. And Peter’s shoes.’

‘What, all of them?’

‘Mhm.’ The boy grinned.

Peter moved fast and slapped Stiles on the back of his head.

‘Oooow, what was that for?’

‘Because I’m sure you never once thought of doing the same thing for you!’

Stiles chuckled. ‘There really wasn’t any need to, considering my Dad planted one in my phone and in my keys, and two on the jeep.’

Scott laughed and Peter gave him another slap. It was a gentle one this time, though.

‘Speaking of, I need to call my dad.’

The Sheriff picked up quickly, letting Stiles know that he couldn’t talk because he was in a meeting with Chris Argent. The hunter was still supplying the Police with guns.

‘Are you two alone in the office?’, the boy asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Put me on speaker.’

‘Stiles.’, Chris greeted.

‘Ok, so. You both know about the vampires and the magic they’re using. They didn’t do anything until now, but Derek’s missing and we think they have him.’

‘Why do you think it’s them?’, the Sheriff asked.

‘Because there’s nobody else? Also, because since yesterday, the whole city is soaking in magic. We can all feel it. We have no idea what it is, but it’s everywhere and it didn’t stop at all, and all the wolves are tingling from it and my rune has been glowing for the past 24 hours.’

‘Your rune… what?’, the hunter question.

‘That doesn’t matter now. We can track Derek, hopefully he had his GPS tracker on. But we need guns with mountain ash bullets. The only way to kill a vampire is by ripping his heart out but we need to slow them down before we do that. If it gets to that, Dad, calm down. We’re not going to kill anyone if they’re not a threat.’

‘Shit.’, the Sheriff groaned. They had this conversation over and over again, even if Stiles assured him he would never harm anybody if it wasn’t in self defense.

‘I don’t have those kind of bullets.’, Chris replied calmly.

‘Bullshit. Even if we didn’t figure out you’d do that after you’ve seen what mountain ash can do, even if we haven’t seen Deaton's records and the amount of dust you bought from him, we still found bullet marks coated with mountain ash in the forest and you’re the only hunter in town. So. Bullshit.’

Stiles took a long breath. ‘Look, Chris, we need your help here. Don’t make me threaten you and remind you that the vampires don’t know of hunter’s existence in this town.’

‘Stiles’, the hunter seemed mad.

‘No, Chris.’, the boy shouted. ‘We need your help. They have our Alpha, if something happens to him you know that this whole town will go to shit. You need him to keep things in order when you can’t. So get your head out of your ass and bring us guns and ammo. That’s all we’re asking of you.’

There was silence for a few seconds, until the Sheriff spoke.

‘Where are you?’

‘Derek’s apartment.’

‘We’ll be there in half an hour.’

‘Brilliant!’, Stiles said sarcastically. ‘Thank you!’

‘Stiles, how are you feeling?’, his father spoke softly and the boy could hear the ruffle of him putting on his jacket.

‘I’m fine, dad. Don’t worry. Just get here.’

He hung up.

₪

Stiles was not fine. When his father and Chris Argent arrived, he was on the couch, in front of the laptop, watching the progress bar. Only 40% left and they’ll know where Derek is.

And then what? Save him, of course.

How? In any way possible.

Stiles was terrified. His heart was (still) beating fast, he was hot and cold at the same time, and the rune felt like it was digging a hole in his leg. He held his knees with his hands and started counting his breaths. It didn’t do any good. It wasn’t a panic attack, he wasn’t sick like in the presence of vampires, but he wasn’t all right.

His father sat down next to him and put a hand on his back.

‘Stiles, did you take your meds today?’

‘Yes. Uhm. Yeah. But I… I think I need more.’

‘Do you have any on you?’

‘No. Uh… Derek’s room. Bookshelf. Second shelf. Right. Twilight.’

Isaac came into his sight. ‘The book?’

Stiles nodded. After a minute, the wolf came back with a copy of Twilight. The pages were cut, revealing a secret socket. Which was filled with a few pills, a bag of mountain ask, one of wolvesbane and Stiles’ headphones.

‘Am I the only one who finds it weird that Stiles has a secret stash hidden in Derek’s room?’, Jackson asked.

‘Yes.’, the Sheriff answered calmly. ‘Derek has a whole drawer at our house.’

Stiles took his pills and after 10 minutes, he felt great. He had more energy than before, he felt like he could run 500 miles. He called Deaton.

‘Stiles, I have been expecting your call.’

‘So you felt it too. What is it?’

‘Magic. But I don’t know.’

Stiles groaned. ‘So you have no idea what it is, what it does, or how to stop it.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘They have Derek.’

The vet sighed.

‘We can track him’, Stiles continued. ‘And we have mountain ash bullets. But I was hoping you’d tell us more.’

‘I’m sorry, Stiles.’

The boy closed his eyes. ‘So, Doc, I assume that you wouldn’t possibly consider tagging along this rescue mission.’

‘I cannot interfere directly in matters of the supernatural that arise in this town.’

‘And indirectly?’

‘I have no idea what this is. I’ve never heard of vampires using magic. I’m still not sure how they’re doing it.’

‘Ok. How many… tea shots can I take?’

‘How are you feeling?’

‘I was feeling dead till a couple of minutes ago. But I took some of my meds and now… I’m feeling like … A thousandth bucks.’

‘How so?’

‘I’ve never felt this… powerful. And I don’t even know what that means, but it’s true, I feel like I could run all the way to New York. I thought I could drink some of the stuff for safe keeping. Because my rune is still glowing red and has been for the past 24 hours and I assume it will be worse if I actually get around the vampires.’

‘Not more than three today. Now. Another one tomorrow.’

Stiles smiled. ‘You’re never going to tell us who you are.’, it wasn’t even a question anymore.

‘Good luck.’, the vet said and everybody knew he meant it. He hung up.

Stiles ignored the way everybody in his room was looking at him. He checked the laptop and, thankfully, the program managed to find Derek’s GPS signal and he was close, at …

‘You have got to be kidding me! Again?!’, he turned towards Peter, exasperated.

The older man looked at the laptop and rolled his eyes. ‘At least we know the place.’

‘What?’, the Sheriff asked.

‘Derek’s at the old house, well, a bit under it. In the cells Kate tortured him last year.’

Stiles looked at Chris Argent just in time to see the flash of pain in his eyes. ‘What do you want me to do?’, the man asked.

Stiles stood up and went to the kitchen to make his tea. ‘You and Dad are going back at the station.’

‘No, kid, I’m not…’

‘Yes, Dad, you are. I can’t do this with you there. If you are there, I’ll be a liability; because I won’t stop thinking that you’re not safe. And the same goes for you. We’re both too emotional to function properly side by side, in harm’s way. Also, we have no idea what they’re doing. The whole town is covered with magic and if something happens, there will be chaos. They’ll need you at the precinct to help. And Chris is going with you because a) the vampires don’t know hunters exist here and we’d all like it to keep it that way and b) he’s dealt with more supernatural shit that you have, he’ll keep you safe.’

The Sheriff nodded. Thankfully, he learned he should never go against Stiles’ plans. ‘And what will you do?’

‘We’re gonna go there, arms and claws blazing and rescue Derek. I’ll try to convince Lydia to go home, but she won’t, so we’ll end up giving her a gun too. Same for Danny. Everybody will have at least one gun on them and I promise we won’t do anything rash and we’ll try to not kill them. But, if they did anything to Derek, I’m sure I won’t be the only one who won’t be able to keep that promise.’

The Sheriff hugged his son and left without another word, taking the hunter with him.

Stiles turned to the pack.

‘Ok, guys, let’s do this. Lydia, really, you should…’

‘No.’ the redhead said firmly, taking Jackson’s hand.

Stiles couldn’t help but smile. ‘Ok. So. We know where he is, and that’s about the only thing we do know. We have guns and you have claws, but we need to be careful. They’re powerful and they’re using magic and we don’t know what they’re planning. So, don’t do anything stupid. Even though they can’t bite us, they can still hurt us. Let’s find Derek first and we’ll figure it out from there.’

He started walking towards the door, but Peter stopped him, with a smug smile on his face.

‘Do you realize what you just did?’

Stiles shrugged. ‘A bit of management?’

‘You just took the role of the Alpha of this pack.’

‘I’m… sorry?’ He was, he really was, he didn’t realize he was doing it, but once Peter said it, Stiles knew he was right.

‘Don’t be. Apparently, there’s nothing wrong with that, because our wolves seem to be ok with it.’

Stiles frowned. ‘How is that possible?’

Peter shrugged. ‘No idea.’

Isaac was laughing. ‘You just adopted a bunch of pups.’

Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘Come on, let’s find daddy.’


	11. I'm kinda tired of fooling around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is how the story ends, obviously. :)

They were all standing in front of the entrance to the underground cells. They all had guns and the wolves let their claws out. Stiles was feeling… something. It was a new feeling. It was weird. He was twitchy, he couldn’t stop moving, but it was more than usual. His rune didn’t hurt, not really, but he could still feel it there and he knew it was still glowing red. He was anxious, afraid for Derek and mad at the vampires, but still, he was calm. Calm enough. He felt like he had enough energy to take on anybody and he was wishing someone would attack them soon, just so they could finish this quick and be done with it.

Stiles had to stop 3 feet from the door, because everybody else stopped. They were 2 feet behind him, all in a line. It looked like someone made a mountain ash line, but that couldn’t be right, because Danny and Lydia were still on the other side.

‘What’s wrong?’, Stiles asked.

‘We can’t get past this point.’, Jackson said, pushing his hands into thin air.

‘Yeah, I can see that.’, Stiles smirked. ‘Is it… it’s not mountain ask, cause Lydia and Danny are still there.’

‘Why are you there?’, Peter asked, narrowing his eyes. ‘Stiles, come back here and see if you can pass the line back.’

He did just that. ‘Ok, this is weird.’ He tried to pass the invisible line back, towards the door. He managed to do it. ‘Uhm… Whatever, ok. Is Derek in there, can you hear him?’

‘Yes’, Peter said and every other wolf nodded.

‘Is he alone?’

‘I can’t hear anybody else.’, Isaac shrugged.

‘Yeah, but we couldn’t hear the vampires. They might be there.’, Boyd reminded everyone.

Stiles rolled his jeans up and scratched his rune. ‘Nope, I don’t think they are.’

‘Dude, you’re not going in there alone!’, Scott was using his puppy eyes to reinforce that statement.

‘It’s not like we have a choice here! This is clearly a shield type of spell, and for some reason, I’m the only one who can pass it. So, please excuse me while I go and get Derek out.’

‘What if it’s a trap?’, Peter almost hissed.

Stiles tightened his grip on the gun. ‘I don’t think it is.’

He turned around and entered the dark hallway, ignoring what the pack was saying to him. There was a whole labyrinth of cells and hallways that Stiles was grateful it had electricity, because he wasn’t in the dark. He had no idea where Derek was, but after taking a few turns, guided just by instinct, he found him.

The wolf was unconscious, but breathing. Visibly. He was pinned to a wall, hands immobilized. As he got closer, Stiles managed to see that Derek’s hands were trapped with plastic handcuffs. Those shouldn’t be able to keep him in place; he’d break them in an instant. So, it had to be magic. Somehow. Ugh.

The boy got out his pocket knife and prayed he’d be able to cut through the cups. The moment he touched Derek’s skin, the wolf woke up.

‘Stiles?’

‘Yeah, come on, I’ll get you out in no time.’ Thankfully, Stiles was able to cut through the cuffs. He quickly released one of the wolf’s hands and started to work on the other one.

‘Are you ok? Did they do something else to you, beside tie you up?’, Stiles whispered. He really hoped the vampires wouldn’t come back anytime soon.

‘I’m fine.’ Derek put his free hand on the back of Stiles neck. The touch tickled him, but he wasn’t going to say anything.

‘Are you alone?’

‘No, the pack’s outside. They couldn’t get in, I don’t know, I think it’s some sort of protection spell. I was the only one who could get through.’

After he managed to cut the second cuff, Derek put both of his hands on the sides of Stiles’ face. For a few seconds, he just looked into the boy’s eyes. Stiles could see the Alpha was still afraid, so he grabbed Derek’s right wrist, the one where he had the bracelet on, and smiled.

Derek kissed him. Right there and then. Derek pressed his lips on Stiles’ for two seconds. But, as short as it was… Something exploded in Stiles. His whole body shivered, like electricity was coming up his spine. He was on fire, but it felt so good. He never felt so good in his life. He felt powerful, even more that before and … happy, for some reason. Yes, he cared about Derek, always had. And maybe in the last 2 days he figured out he cared about him… differently. And yes, the fact that he kissed him did make him happy. But… Electricity. Down his spine. Not normal. But like most things Derek related, the attitude Stiles needed to adopt right now was ‘ _meh, I don’t even know, but I’m gonna go with it, cause it feels ok’_.

When he opened his eyes to look at Derek, the wolf’s eyes flashed red.

‘We’ll find time for that later.’ Stiles’ voice was hoarse. ‘We need to get out of here.’

Derek nodded and they made their way to the surface quickly. For a second, Stiles feared Derek wasn’t going to be able to pass the invisible line that kept everyone else out. But the barrier wasn’t there when they got to it. Stiles could think about why that happened later.

Isaac jumped and hugged Derek, and he returned the hug, smiling and ruffling the boy’s hair.

‘What happened?’, Peter asked.

‘Last night, I was running to Scott’s. I couldn’t hear or smell them, so I was surprised when Michael stabbed me with a small silver trident. Yes, a trident, a fancy trident.' Derek sighed. 'Alex cuffed me. They were plastic ones, but I couldn’t get them off. I assume they were magic. Then, they blew wolfsbane in my face and I passed out. I really hate it when people do that.’, he pouted. Stiles thought it was adorable, the rest of the pack was startled at the sight.

‘I woke up when Stiles came.’

Scott groaned. ‘So they didn’t tell you anything? What they want or something?’

Derek smiled. ‘No, Scott, bad guys rarely tend to divulge their plans like that.’

‘What do we do now?’, Boyd asked. ‘There’s still magic everywhere. What do they want, why did they take you? Why was Stiles the only one who could pass the spell and, not that I’m not glad that you’re ok, but why would they just… keep you like that? And leave you alone?’

‘They’re at the house.’, Stiles whispered. Everybody turned their heads toward him.

‘How do you know that?’, Derek asked.

‘No idea. But that’s where they are. They’re sitting on the porch, drinking whisky.’

‘Stiles, how are you feeling?’, Peter took a step towards the boy.

‘Honestly? Pretty darn good. My whole body is tingling and I think I might have electrocuted myself somehow, but nothing hurts and I don’t feel sick. I have a lot of energy and I am so mad, I feel like _I_ could rip their hearts out right now, singlehandedly. But I’m also calm and in control and so fucking hot. Is anybody else hot?’ Stiles took off his hoodie and tied it around his hips.

‘How is your rune?’, Peter pressed on.

‘Red. Glowing. The usual. It’s also telling me where the vampires are.’

‘The rune is telling you?’, Derek frowned.

‘Yeah. I don’t know either, dude. And I don’t really care right now? We should really ignore that I’m a freak of nature and just go deal with the fucking vampires, ok?’

Derek nodded and guided the pack towards the old Hale house, never leaving Stiles’ side. They walked closely, shoulders touching from time to time. Stiles still felt like he was on fire.

₪

When they got there, the vampires were, indeed, sitting on the porch of the wreck that once used to be the Hale house. Nobody said anything as they approached, but there was a lot of staring going on.

Alex seemed curious, looking at the people he didn’t know, assessing them from head to toe. He smiled at Derek in a way that could only be described as ‘fondly’ and Stiles felt the wolf shiver besides him.

Michael, though. He was looking only at Stiles, a smug smile on his face. When their eyes met, Stiles remembered every single second they felt together. He felt every touch on his body and he remembered how betrayed and disgusted he was when he figured out Michael was a vampire. Stiles got even angrier, and he felt like he was going to throw up. Michael winked at him and Derek bumped their shoulders.

Stiles stopped walking because his pack was 3 feet behind them. Again. Another protection spell. Looking at Derek, the boy stepped back in line with the rest of them, rolling his eyes. ‘Be safe’, the Alpha was thinking. ‘Stay here and let me protect you.’ They really didn’t need too many words to communicate these days.

‘Awh, Stiles doesn’t want to play?’, Alex teased.

Stiles was still looking at Derek, waiting for permission. The wolf nodded.

‘Not really, no. I’m kinda tired of fooling around.’ He tightened his grip on the gun. ‘So why don’t we stop doing that and you tell us what you want.’

Alex and Michael shared a look and the latter raised an eyebrow. ‘Is the Alpha letting the human speak for his pack? Interesting.’

Stiles smiled. ‘Yeah, we’re quite an unconventional pack, if you haven’t figured that one out yet. What do you want with us?’

Alex frowned. ‘Stiles, we've talked about this before. We want nothing with your pack.’

‘Ok, then what do you want to do to the city?’

‘What do you mean?’

Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘There’s magic everywhere. We can all feel it. Granted, we have no idea how vampires are able to use magic, but you’re choking the city with it. And it needs to stop.’

Alex’s eyes widened in joy. ‘This is amazing, you can _feel_ it? Ha, this is an unexpected turn-up!’

‘What?’, Stiles asked flatly.

‘Well, we knew you were powerful, but we weren’t aware you were this powerful!’ Alex stood up and started pacing as he spoke, just like he did during his classes. It was annoying the hell out of Stiles. Michael was smiling, evil written all over his face, sight still on Stiles.

‘You see, when I saw you in the coffee shop, I really had no interest in causing mayhem in Beacon Hills.', Alex laughed. 'We both wanted to take a break and just chill. But when I smelled you, oh my fuck, you have no idea how delicious you’d be!’

Everybody tensed at that and Derek let out a small growl. Stiles just rolled his eyes, so Alex continued.

‘As you know, we don’t need human blood to survive. We’ve been munching on animals, that’s fine with us. But your kind’s blood. Oh good god, it’s more powerful to us than human blood. If we feed on magic blood, even just a sip, it makes us powerful, so powerful. We’re able to control runes and so, so much more.’

‘So, I’m magic?’, Stiles shrugged.

‘Oh, yes. When Michael started dating you, he saw what you could do. Even though, from what I understand, you yourself had no idea.’ Alex chuckled.

‘Care to explain?’, Stiles said sweetly.

Alex took a few steps towards the boy. They were 5 feet away, but the vampire was looking into the boy’s eyes.

‘The fact that your rune is _funky_ in our presence is the only demonstration you should need, really. But, besides that. Let’s see… The fact that you are able to cross our protection spells, the fact that you freed Derek from enchanted cuffs, how you knew we were here. The power you’re feeling now…’ The vampire smiled.

‘We know you killed two Alphas. And you figured out the existence of werewolves all by yourself. Come on, humans don’t just get to do that. You’re so special, Stiles. And we’re going to take our time tasting you.’

Stiles snorted. ‘So, you want my blood so you can become more powerful and… do what, exactly? What is the magic in the town doing?’

Alex chuckled. ‘Oh, there’s no magic. Just here, with us. Our runes, your runes and the line. What you and your pack are feeling… That’s just you, really.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘It’s just your magic being transmitted through the pack bond you have.’

Stiles nodded. ‘See, that’s all very nice and logical. But there are some problems. Like the fact that I _know_ I’m not magic. And the fact that even though humans can be part of a pack, they can't feel the bond.’

Derek growled and Stiles looked at him. The wolf frowned at shook his head. Ok, so maybe it was possible for a human to feel things in the pack. Interesting. Stiles will have to ask questions about that later.

Michael laughed and the sound startled Stiles. It always did. The vampire got up and stood next to his brother.

‘You’re a fool if you believe that. Fucking vampires are telling you that we smell it in you, and you’re still oblivious.’

‘I know magic is all about believing. So, if I don’t believe it, then I’m useless.’

Michael rolled his eyes. ‘You know what? You keep believing that, ok? Keep believing you’re just a normal, useless human. Your blood tells us otherwise. So, it’s fine, really. You’re useless, so you won’t try to stop us when we kill all of them.’

Stiles looked around to his pack. They were all tense and ready for battle; he saw it in their body language. But something was wrong, he could see it in their eyes, they were all panicking. And they were just threatened and none of them said anything. Stiles looked at Derek, the wolf was really on edge, his expression very different than a few seconds before. His claws were out, and his fists were clenched, his skin bleeding. He also wasn’t looking at Stiles or at anyone, really, his eyes were set on the ground. Stiles recognized the symptoms, the words ‘triggering the healing process’ came to mind.

The boy looked at the vampires again. ‘Why do you want to kill them, if it’s just me you’re after?’

‘Fun.’, they both answered, grinning.

‘Ok. So, I assume this isn’t just a protection spell, and I assume they can’t move?’

Michael smiled. ‘You’re also smart, cupcake.’

 ‘Yeah, I’m also burning up.’

The vampires didn’t say anything, so Stiles continued.

‘I am useless, most of the time. I’m the comic relief of this group, you know? I’m sassy and bitchy and annoying. I’m also good at research and I have a nice shoulder to cry on. And a great ass, but that’s beside the point.’ He started playing with his gun, waving it around. He tried not to scream. ‘So, I’m magic. That’s nice. It’s problematic, though, that you want to kill me. Cause, you see, I’ve invested a lot in the Hale pack, you know. In this town, it’s safety. And in people. Oh, I’ve invested so much into these assholes over here, you have no idea. I can’t let you’, he shot them both in one knee, Stiles was a great shot. The vampires collapsed to the ground, screaming.

Stiles threw the gun away and laughed. ‘I really can’t let you hurt them. I’d say something cheesy, like take me and leave them alone, but I can’t do that either, I can’t do that to them.’

‘You can’t run!’, Michael screamed. ‘You’re ours now, ours to drink!’. His eyes were black and his vampire teeth were out. He started crawling towards Stiles.

‘Ha. Feel free to _try_ and kill me, but come on! I was never going to die peacefully.’

Stiles turned and grabbed Derek’s face with his hands. He kissed him. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the fire the wolf’s touch gave him. ‘Come on, Stiles, you’re magic.’ he thought. ‘You’re magic, you’re a spark, you’ve got power. You can do this. They’re a threat, you have to do this for them, your pack. For him. Do this for Derek. Do this _with_ Derek.’

He felt all the electricity his body was holding in the back of his neck. He concentrated on it, bit Derek’s lower lip and he just… let it go.

Something exploded. Derek gasped, still pressed to Stiles’ lips. And Stiles felt… normal. Completely normal, no tension, no electricity, no stress, he couldn’t even feel the rune anymore.

He detached himself from Derek and looked over to the vampires. They were on the ground, unconscious and not breathing. Peter made his way to them, so the spells weren’t working anymore.

‘Are they dead?’, he asked and his voice was hoarse. Oops.

‘No.’, Peter frowned.

‘Well, they should be. Rip their hearts out.’

Peter looked over past Stiles, to Derek probably. ‘Do it’, the Alpha said. His voice was hoarse too. Oops.

Peter clawed open their chest simultaneously, but the vampires didn’t start bleeding, not really. Black goo was pouring everywhere and Stiles heard Lydia gasp. When the wolf clawed their hearts out, the bodies turned to ash instantly.

‘Ewwwwwwww’, Erica whined and hugged Boyd.

‘Burn the hearts’, Stiles said. He then turned around to Derek. The wolf was… blushing.

‘Uhm. Did I just do that?’, the boy asked, voice low.

‘Aha.’ Derek’s eyes dropped to Stiles’ lips.

‘Ok. I’m gonna pass out now.’

₪

Stiles woke up on a familiar cold surface. He was in one of Deaton’s exam rooms. He stood up and yawned.

‘How are you feeling?’, the vet handed him a bottle of water.

‘Uhm. Good. Rested, I feel rested. How long was I out?’

‘About 2 hours.’

‘Oh. Ok. What happened?’

‘You don’t remember?’, Deaton took a step closer, frowning.

‘Oh no, I remember perfectly. But I don’t really _understand_ what happened.’

‘From what the others told me, when you kissed Derek there was a bright light that traveled from you to the vampires, knocking them out.’

Stiles blushed and the doctor smiled.

‘So, you were right, I am magic.’, the boy started playing with the water bottle label.

‘Yes. It just took Derek to make you realize it.’

‘Cause he’s the one I get my power from.’

Deaton grinned. ‘So you do understand.’

Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘Let’s see if I got this straight. I’ve always had magic, but I was unaware of it when I was with Michael. So that’s why I was fine. I started getting sick around the time I, probably, had the idea that maybe I care about Derek more than just a friend. Two days ago, when it became more than just an idea, all the pack started feeling my magic because I didn’t know of it, so I couldn’t control it. When I… well… when Derek… uhm. When it happened, he made me feel the power of my magic and I was able to control it just enough to take the vampires out.’

Deaton nodded. Stiles should have a problem dealing with this. He should be thinking about it, about everything, he should be freaking out. He had magic and he needed Derek to make it work. He kissed Derek! Stiles should be freaking out. But he wasn't. He felt calm and... good. He felt lazy and a bit hungry. He also felt a little proud, because he did take out two vampires. He was also anxious because, well, he did kiss Derek, and in front of the whole pack. There will be words, he thought. Stiles got a feeling he won't be the one speaking them, seeing how the pack liked to emotionally torture him with every ocassion. But he still feel good. And calm.

The boy stood up. ‘So, will I get to train with you now?’

The doctor frowned. ‘Is that what you want?’

Stiles blushed, but he was pretty sure he was blushing continuously since he woke up. ‘Well, yeah? I mean, I have to learn what I can do and I have to control it. And I guess I can research it on my own, but we both know I’ll just end up back here, bugging you with questions or borrowing books. So… maybe we could figure out an arrangement? Or something?’

The vet smiled. ‘I think that’s a great idea, even though I think everything will be easier with Derek by your side.’

‘Uhm. Yeah, cause that’s a thing that happened.’ Stiles frowned. That’s going to be an awkward conversation he’ll need to have with Derek. But once again, he’ll postpone it a bit, _meh, I don’t even know, but I’m gonna go with it cause it feels ok._

The most important thing right now was that Stiles had magic and he needed to learn how to control it and oh god his Dad is going to be pissed.

Stiles groaned. ‘Doc, since you’re gonna be my Yoda, after I grow the balls to tell my Dad, I’m sure he’ll have a lot of questions for you, if you’d be willing to answer them.’

The doctor laughed. ‘Of course I will. But, knowing the Sheriff, I don’t think he’ll have any problem with you being able to properly protect yourself from now on.’

‘Fair point.’

Stiles made his way out of the room and froze when he got to the waiting room. All the pack was there, staring at him. Most of them were smiling, Lydia and Erica looked excited, Isaac’s eyes were bigger than ever, Peter was smirking and Scott looked… discussed and terrified at the same time.

And Derek, well… Derek was blushing. And staring at his shoes.

Stiles whined, like the 12 year old he is. ‘You all heard that, didn’t you?’

‘We sure did, lover boy.’, Jackson snickered.

Stiles glared at the wolf. Then, his eyes skimmed the chair he was sitting on. Stiles winked, and the second after, Jackson was on the floor, one of the chair’s legs broken. All of the pack was laughing. Jackson was mad for a few seconds, but he was laughing too by the time Boyd offered him a hand to get up.

Stiles turned to Deaton. ‘Sorry. I’ll pay for that.’ The doctor rolled his eyes and went back to the back rooms.

Derek made his way to Stiles and handed him a pack of Reese’s. The boy smiled.

‘Take me home?’

‘Yeah.’, Derek nodded.

‘Cook me dinner?’, Stiles grinned.

‘Don’t push it.’, Derek smiled.

**₪**

Derek drove Stiles home and made sandwiches. They ate in the living room, on the couch and they talked, just like they always do. They talked about Stiles’ magic, about what he could do, about how his father will react when they’ll tell him. They joked about wizards and planned different pranks Stiles could pull on the rest of the pack.

Stiles told Derek how happy he was, now that he could finally do something, now that he had magic, now that he could protect them and not be useless. Derek didn’t understand how Stiles could think he was useless, considering how many lives he saved and how many things he always did for the pack.

Stiles told Derek how excited he was, that the prospect of learning so many new things was thrilling. He knew that this wasn’t going to be easy, that he would have to train a lot. That it will take a while to get used to the idea that he had magic in him, and that he knew the pack will take some time to adjust too.

Derek told Stiles he was proud of him and of all the things he ever did to protect the pack. He thanked him for saving his life. Again.

The sun was setting and they were just sitting on the couch, facing each other, smiling. Both of them were smiling like idiots.

‘So, we’re not going to talk about the big gay elephant in the room?’, Stiles whispered, eyes not leaving Derek’s.

‘Nope.’, the wolf answered. ‘I really don’t think talking is such a good idea right now.’ His smile turned somewhat feral.

Stiles raised an eyebrow and smiled. ‘Meh, I don’t even know, but I’m gonna go with it cause it feels ok.’

₪

When the Sheriff got home that night from work, a bit earlier than expected, Stiles and Derek were both asleep on the couch, hugging each other, feet tangled, the wolf’s nose buried in the boy’s neck. Stiles had stubble rash and Derek’s lips were swollen.

‘Oh, finally!’, the Sheriff thought. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for reading this. You're awesome. I really hope you've enjoyed and this isn't a crappy ending to it :). Hugs and kisses!


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